The Child
by Stripes of Scarlet
Summary: The crew takes on an odd couple of siblings, though not to their desire, of a mini Luffy and a protective sister. She has plans for her brother, and she needs the crew to help her, but won't say what it is. But who can trust those circus folk anyways?
1. The Child

Shade- I do not own One Piece

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Chapter 1: The Child

"Stop her!" A group of men were running through the streets knocking into people as they chased a young girl who had an even younger child in her hands. She moved swiftly around people, being sure not to knock into anyone and stay low to the ground. Her long, wavy, light brown hair swung around in her low pony tail, her black streaks showing through. The boy she held had bright blonde hair and he slept soundly in her arms.

She found a break in the people and got a clear sprint out into the middle of town. As she ran, supporting the sleeping child's head in between her hand and chest, she past the crew of the Going Merry. She sprinted past without ever looking up. They turned and saw her run off fast, they saw her wearing a light blue tank top with a white stripe around the breast and black capris that were form fitting, ending at just below her knees. Her dirt white shoes kicked up dust as she continued to run.

"What's going on?" Nami turned and watched the girl turn a corner out of sight. Turning back, she and the rest were spun around when the group of men ran into them. Wanting to know what was happening; Zoro grabbed one of the dirty clothed men and stopped him.

"What are you doing?" He had hold of the man's broad shoulders. He could feel tense muscles under the sleeves.

"That girl! She! She—" The man paused to take a breath. "She kidnapped that young boy! He's sick and needs medical attention!" Zoro let him go and he ran to catch up with the rest who had run the corner as well.

"Taking little sick kids, that's never right, no matter she's a woman or not." Sanji spoke through his cigarette as he and the rest turned to watch the man run off.

"A sick child! We need to help him! He could be dying!" Usopp started to freak out as he jumped around the rest of the group, thinking about his friend Kaya.

"I don't think we should interfere, we just need some supplies." Nami was about to turn back around to walk to the nearest store but was stopped by Luffy's out stretched arm on her shoulder.

"If a child's in danger we should help, Nami. Think of the trouble he's in, think of his family. If we can help him, we should." Luffy's explanation made Nami pout a bit but she turned around.

"I'll go back to the ship and wake up Chopper! He could be needed!"

"Is that your excuse for chickening out, Usopp?" Zoro stepped forward, facing away from Usopp who looked surprised.

"Of course not Zoro! I actually care about the child's well being and Chopper should help. Unlike you, you probably just want some fight practice."

"Can't argue with that." Zoro smirked as he touched the hilt of one of his swords.

"Okay! Usopp will get Chopper and the rest of us will save the boy!" Luffy smiled wide and shoved his fist into the air.

"Jeez Luffy, it's not that big of a deal." Nami walked forward as everyone's eyes were glaring at her. She looked up and asked, "What?"

"Let's go now, Kay? I don't think those villagers can deal with her alone," said Sanji. They started to walk off.

"I'm not so sure about that, that guy I grabbed seemed pretty strong," said Zoro.

"Let's split up!" Luffy exclaimed, and ran off in a random direction. Sanji ran after him, Usopp started going back to the ship and Nami snuck off back in the wrong direction. Zoro smirked at her actions and slowly walked off.

"Stop! Give us the boy!" The same group of men was running after the girl who had yet to slow down.

"No! Stay away!" The girl, who had both arms wrapped around the sleeping boy tight but not too tight, jumped into the air moving to her right. She landed on a crate of food and kicked it out from under her. As it fell in front of the men, she pushed off of the wall of a building and jumped to the other side of the narrow passage and kicked another crate. Jumping off the wall again, she flipped through the air and landed swiftly on her feet still running fast. Several of the men fell down from the crates and food and the girl turned another corner.

She looked up and saw that there was a structure above her serving as a ceiling for the passage. She heard the yells of the men behind her as they continued after her. She looked down to the boy in her arms and saw him still sleeping soundly. She made a quick decision and jumped up. The men turned the corner to see an empty walk way.

"Quick! Down here!" The first man led the others running under the outside ceiling. After the last man ran from out under the ceiling and back into the sun light a grunt was heard. The girl was positioned with her legs making a perfect split so her feet could reach both sides of the breezeway. She tried to keep her back as flat as possible against the ceiling so she wouldn't be seen. However, holding the boy made it harder for her to do this. Her body ended up looking like a short but wide T. When she saw that the coast was clear, she jumped from her position and did a forward flip to land on the ground in a crouched position. She lightly cradled the boy who yawned in his sleep and gripped tighter around her torso.

"That was a pretty good move there." A voice came from behind the girl and she whipped around, still low to the ground with one of her knees in the dirt, panting. She saw a tall, calm looking man looking down at her. His strange green hair set her off a bit, but she became refocused and gripped the boy tighter, not knowing what this man wanted. "I don't really see what taking a boy who's sick does for you, but you should probably give him back." He was about to take his swords out but the girl growled at him and seemed to mutter "another one" under her breath before running at the wall and jumping to push off, shot to the other wall higher up and pushed off to jump across the narrow passage and landed onto the roof of the building. Zoro stood there thinking for a second. He started to walk around to the other side of the building that the girl jumped onto.

Getting to the other side, it seemed that building she had jumped on was deserted and no one else was around. He looked up and saw the girl sitting off the side of the building. The boy had woken up and the girl was supporting him so he could stand up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He looked down at Zoro and then back to the girl.

"What's going on Monoka?" The girl, now known to Zoro as Monoka, didn't answer. She was still staring at Zoro.

"You can't have him," was all she said with a stern and angry face. The boy looked surprised. He stared down at Zoro with worry on his face and wrapped his arms around the girl's neck as a defense mechanism. Zoro was slightly confused at how the boy acted around her. He put the thought to the side of his mind and spoke.

"Apparently you can't either." The girl growled at his words. She didn't look like she was going to answer him so he was gonna talk again but he was distracted.

A man, one of the ones chasing her, jumped out from behind her with a sword drawn aiming right for her. It didn't seem that she noticed, nor the boy as the man started to descend on her. Zoro was going to yell something but the girl moved. She grabbed the boy and brought him to her chest. Zoro thought it was to use the boy as a shield but it was to keep him out of the grasp of the man. She fell back onto her back and kicked her legs up, her right foot hitting him square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and her left foot stopping his arm from letting the sword come any closer. Her grip in the boy was tight and he was grabbing her tightly as well. She then bent her legs that now supported the man's full weight and shoved him into the air. He flew in front of her and fell to the ground below, losing consciousness after the drop.

Zoro was still standing there, baffled at how the girl dealt with the surprise attack. She jumped from the building and landed swiftly on the ground. Letting the boy down but holding onto his hand. She lifted her foot and brought it down hard on the collapsed man's head. She shot a glance at Zoro looking like she was sizing him up.

"You don't know this man do you?"

"No, but you can't just steal sick kids from these villagers. And hurting them like that won't put you on my good side." Zoro put his hand on one of his swords and pushed it out so he could take it out better when he had to. The girl just looked down at the ground and chuckled. She moved the boy from her side to right in front of her, holding both his hands up with hers. She looked back up at Zoro with a menacing smile.

"You're gullible, aren't ya?" Before he could answer, she pulled the boy into the air and yelled out "rocket!" All of a sudden, the boy flew in the air. He had both his arms above his head, clasping them together, and his legs were perfectly straight letting him go even higher.

This made Zoro look up in fear at the boy whom was soaring over his head, soon to fall to the ground. Since he was looking up, he didn't see Monoka running at him. Once he looked down, she was already crouched low to the ground right in front of him. She was fast. They made brief eye contact. Zoro's face showed surprise, hers showed laughter. Then, she jumped at him, jabbing him in the gut with her shoulder and spinning him around. She slid to a stop, about ten feet away from Zoro facing him. She stood up and caught the boy with one of her arms. She set the boy down and raised her other arm. Zoro went wide eyed. She was holding one of his swords.

"How did you get that?!"

"Distractions make everything easier."

"So throwing little kids in the air almost killing them helps you do that?!"

"We're professionals, trust me."

Suddenly, the group of men, having more and more men being added, who were looking for them came about behind Monoka. They yelled and started running for her.

"Gotta go." Monoka ran toward the men which didn't make sense to Zoro. But she seemed to be running for the port that was at the other side of the village.

As she met the men, she squatted low to the ground, something she seemed to do a lot. The boy had both his arms and legs wrapped around the girl's mid section, letting her use both hands. He had his eyes closed shut really tight trying not to watch the scene. She ran through the men, moving, spinning and flipping about. She used Zoro's sword and slashed at every man who tried to stop her or go for the boy. A couple of men had been knocked to the ground and another two were added when Monoka spun her leg low to the ground and tripped them. One more man was left standing and she just blocked his sword with the one she had and hit him in the side of the face with the hilt of hers. Zoro was looking in slight amazement at her fluid movements and how everything was on set like it was staged. He was still staring as she started to run off.

"Hey! Wait! Give me my sword back!" Zoro then sprinted off after her. Suddenly, Luffy and Sanji appeared out of a side alley and saw Zoro running after the girl so they started to run after them all too.

"You found her Zoro!" Luffy was running with his hand on his head to keep his hat on safely. Sanji caught up closer and noticed the sword that Monoka was holding.

"Hey, since when did she have a sword?"

"Since she took it from me!"

"How'd she get your sword Zoro?"

"That doesn't matter right now, I need it back!" Zoro ran ahead of the others trying his hardest to get his sword back from her. As the three ran after her, another group of men came out dressed in rags same as the others.

"Wow, how many guys they got going after her?" Sanji slowed down a bit wondering.

"Give us the kid!"

"Why won't you just give up?!" Monoka ran past several men with her arms outstretched and punched them in the face. She then took her hand and picked up some dirt and threw it in a couple more men's faces. Then there was one left. He was ready for her with a sword gripped tightly in his hand. She didn't want to face him either so she jumped up, soaring several feet over his head. He growled and swung the sword up. Monoka went wide eyed as the blade went straight for the little boy who was clung to her stomach. She made a split second decision and wrapped her free arm around his back. The blade streaked across her forearm and she let out a scream. When she came back down to the ground she hit her feet and rolled across the dirt, still shielding the boy from any harmful contact. She skidded to a stop and dropped the sword to grip her hurt arm.

"You idiot! You almost hit the kid!" One of the rag dressed men hit the other man upside the head.

"Sorry Captain!"

_Captain?_ Zoro and the others stopped as they saw the mess in front of them. Several men were out cold, the ones she had hit in the head and others looked like they were trying to gouge out their eyes. Then he saw the girl gripping her arm tight as blood was splattering out between her fingers. Her face showed pain and the little boy had finally opened his eyes to see tears running down her face.

"Monoka—"

"Give me my sword back!" Everyone turned to see Zoro huffing and puffing. He didn't care about what was going on right now, all he wanted was his sword back.

"Take your damn sword!" Monoka grabbed the sword and flung it over everyone's head right at Zoro who caught it swiftly. "Those things only bring trouble!"

"Give the kid back to these guys! You're endangering his life!" Sanji yelled through his cigarette.

"Yeah Monoka, give him here." The one man who was addressed as captain before stepped forward smirking evilly, his hand outstretched.

"Wow," Monoka let go of her arm that wasn't bleeding as badly now and reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a switch blade, "Even you're friends are gullible." She opened the blade and shot forward. She swung her hand quickly several times, making the man standing in front of her freeze in place with his eyes wide, fearing pain. Once she had jumped past him she stopped with her arm sticking out to the side. Everyone who was there was staring in fear at what she could have done to him. The man, still frozen in place from shock, was trembling waiting to feel blood trickle down his body. But that never happened, instead, the rags he wore as clothes fell to the ground in heaps, revealing a Navy Uniform. Monoka stood up and gripped the blade tighter.

"Only a Naval Captain would be stupid enough to wear his uniform under his clothes while undercover." She then walked to his trembling side and placed the blade right next to his neck and motioned for the boy to move to her back. She took her other bleeding arm and grabbed his hand and bent it behind him. She moved her mouth to his ear.

"You will leave now, you will forget everything I have done to your men and you will not disturb us anymore," she whispered into his ear. He only laughed.

"Like I'd agree to that." Monoka pulled on his arm even tighter and brought the blade to his skin, showing she wasn't in the mood for joking. The other men behind her started to sneak up, trying to stop her and grab the boy but she sensed them.

"One more stepped and I slit his throat." They stopped.

"Fine, I'll stop, but that doesn't mean the Navy will halt in going for the boy. As long as he's still alive, he's priority number one."

"Like that's the truth. Navy running around chasing little old us." She smirked and dropped him to the ground. "Gather your men and leave this island."

"You're just making it worse for everyone here, you know that?" The man was laughing till Monoka jabbed her foot on his throat, causing him to start wheezing for air. The boy on her back smiled and giggled as he scurried up her back to look over her shoulder and see the man in pain.

"Jeez, that little kid's a monkey ain't he?" Sanji stood with the others, trying to figure out what the hell was going on right now. First he thought the girl was bad now she's not, the kid's awake blah blah blah blah.

"We're not gonna leave him alone." The man under Monoka's foot was trying to talk as he gripped her ankle, trying to move it.

"Shut up." Monoka looked down at him in disgust, ignoring the blood that had covered her whole forearm and hand and swung low to her side. The boy laughed and stuck his tongue out at the man. She then dug her foot even deeper, making the man's eyes seem to pop out of his head. Then, he let go of her ankle with one hand and made a sign with it, directing it toward his still conscious men. They quickly jumped forward and tackled Monoka to the ground and grabbed the boy.

"Hibo!" She reached up through a space in between two men's bodies before they smothered her. One man had grabbed him off of her back and was holding tight as the now named Hibo was squirming trying to get out.

"Monoka! Help!"

A muffled "Damnit!" came from under the men as Monoka tried her hardest to get free but to no avail.

"Let go of her!" Hibo yelled out till the man holding him covered his mouth with his hand. Hibo retaliated by biting the guy's hand and causing him to drop him. He ran over to try and get Monoka free but someone's hand wrapped around his torso. Then, he was pulled back like a sling shot and was resting in the arms of a stranger. A stranger with a straw hat.

"Let go!" Hibo tried hitting the boy who was holding him, thinking he was a bad guy but his punches didn't make any effect. The straw hat boy was looking at the scene in front of him with a stern look at the girl getting pummeled by a bunch of Navy scum.

"Give the kid back!" The man whom Hibo was snatched from was coming at Luffy fast.

"Time to get rid of these guys." Luffy looked up, Hibo had stopped hitting him and was now looking up at him strangely. Then, Luffy's free arm shot out and punched the guy in the stomach. He fell back on the ground trying to get his air back.

"Hey!" One of the men who had tackled Monoka looked up and was on his knees looking angrily at Luffy. But, before he could even turn back, a bloody arm shot up from underneath him and punched him hard in the jaw. Then, Luffy swung his arm and hit the guy again; he fell unconscious to the ground. Hibo was still in his grasp and he looked from the collapsed man to Luffy, his smile grew huge as he now saw Luffy as a good guy.

"Wait a minute, I'm confused. Who're the bad guys?" Sanji still stood there looking on not knowing what was going on so he didn't act on anything. Luffy, however, was not one of those people and he acted on impulse right then and there.

"Who've been the bad guys every single time Sanji? The Navy!" Zoro took out his swords and wrapped his bandana around his head, getting ready to fight. The girl, Monoka, seemed devoted to the boy, risking life and limb for him and something in Zoro made him know that the girl was not at fault here, she needed to be helped.

"Well in that case..." Sanji jumped forward and kicked a guy into the air off of Monoka. However, she was still stuck not able to move out from under the others. But she was still trying her hardest, and somewhere under that heap a guy got a nice wakeup call with a knee to the happy area.

"Why can't you guys do anything right?!" The Captain then ran forward after getting his stable breathing back. He bent down and tried to grab for Monoka's uncovered arm, but he was stopped. A tall man with a sword in his mouth jumped in front of him causing him to stop dead in his tracks. The Captain stared into his anger filled eyes.

"Why do you help this piece of shit of a woman?"

"Because crap like you wants to hurt her!" Zoro swung his swords forward and the captain collapsed in a puddle of his own blood.

"Captain!" A man that covered Monoka yelled out before he got a mouth full of leathery black shoe. He fell forward, his body weight falling back down on Monoka. She made an "oof" sound at the sudden pain. Then, she tried to push him off of her and he fell to the side and Monoka finally sat up seeing what was going on. All she saw was that man before who wanted Hibo standing behind her with his swords out and the two others, one of which had Hibo in his arms. She jumped up quickly and tried punching the blonde one to get to the other.

"Hey, what're you doing? We're helping you." Sanji was dodging her punches while walking backwards, reconsidering his thoughts of her being on the good side.

"Give Hibo back!" She made one last punch for his face with her hurt arm but Sanji stopped it. He looked at her arm in surprise.

"Holy crap! Look at your arm!" Since the blood made her arm slippery, she pulled it back out of his grasp. She winced when the pain of doing that hit her but ignored it and tripped Sanji since he was distracted. She ran towards Luffy just when Hibo jumped out of his grasp. He stood up and put his hands up in the air, motioning Monoka to stop.

"What are you doing Hibo?"

"They're good guys. They helped us." Monoka looked at Hibo confused. While she was under those men she didn't know what was going on. She looked up at the boy who was holding Hibo, he nodded at her. She whipped around at looked at the other two. Sanji was sitting up rubbing his head and Zoro was still standing in between the Captain and the other men who looked like they had gotten sword wounds. She was panting from a loss of energy and fell to her knees, still facing Sanji and Zoro.

"Monoka." Hibo ran to her side and held onto her good arm. She sunk her head low after all that had just happened.

"Get these men out of here."

"What about the others on their ship? Hey, why didn't we know the Navy was here anyhow?" Sanji stood up and walked over to Monoka just as Zoro and Luffy did.

"They didn't come in a Navy ship. They came undercover. Their absence won't matter. Their boat is at the east end of the port, put them in it and shove them off." Monoka stood up after regaining her composure. Blood continued to drip from her arm, some had stained onto her shirt.

"Monoka! You're hurt! Let me help you." Hibo was about to grab Monoka's arm but she grabbed his hands with her other and squatted down to his level.

"Not in public Hibo," she whispered to him. He nodded but still looked worried.

"You really should get that looked at. It's pretty deep. Hey, wasn't Usopp gonna get Chopper?" Sanji started to look around.

"Yeah, I wonder where he is." Luffy looked around too, scanning the area for their friends but couldn't see them.

"Don't you guys think she should rest first, she's been running around this town." Zoro added in his two cents.

"How about you let me make my own decisions?" Monoka had now wrapped a piece of clothing she had ripped from one of the passed out men around her arm and picked up Hibo and supported him on her other side.

"Thank you for helping us, but we have to go now."

"Bye rubber man." Hibo waved at Luffy who smiled wide and waved back at him.

"Rubber man?" Monoka turned around to ask about the name but she was interrupted by another person coming into picture.

"Luffy! I've finally found you guys! I've got Chopper here for the boy!" Usopp popped out of no where with Chopper right behind him. He saw Luffy, Sanji and Zoro just standing there with Monoka and Hibo several yards away. Monoka forgot about the rubber man name and started to walk away again.

"Hey! Stop her you guys! She's taking the boy again!" Usopp yelled out.

"It's okay Usopp; she's not a bad guy. Those people chasing her were the Navy," Luffy explained.

"Oh, so the boy's okay?"

"Yep!"

Monoka sighed as she walked away, gripping Hibo tighter, happy that he was safe.

"Hey you guys! Hurry up! We gotta get back to the ship!" Nami walked into the area with two bags of supplies in her hands as she caught the attention of everyone there, including Hibo.

"SHIP?!" Hibo's head whipped back to the others as his eyes became wide with excitement. Monoka turned her head to Hibo in fear.

"No..." She whispered under her breath while her arms became tighter around his body in defense.

"YOU GUYS ARE PIRATES?!" Hibo shot out of Monoka's grip like soap and ran back to Luffy's side.

"Yeah, we are! And I'm the captain!" Luffy smiled down to Hibo who had spinning stars in his eyes.

"WOW! Can I see your ship?!"

"Sure!"

"No!" Monoka had walked back and grabbed Hibo's upper arm and dragged him in the other direction.

"No! Monoka!" Hibo was yelling in a whiny tone as Monoka walked off.

"Hey! You look hurt!" Chopper, who had just transformed into his human form from his more appropriate animal form, had walked closer and saw blood seeping through the cloth that was around Monoka's arm.

"I'm fine."

"Does this hurt?" Chopper poked Monoka's arm and she went wide eyed. She let go of Hibo and fell to her knees, gripping her arm.

"Yeah, you need some medicine."

"HEY! You're a talking deer!" Hibo pointed his arm out at Chopper who crept away in slight fear. "How's that?"

"He ate the human human fruit, can't you tell Hibo? Ah! Damnit!" Monoka winced in pain as she identified the fruit that Chopper had eaten. The others were slightly surprised at her knowledge of Devil fruits.

"Here, follow me to the ship; I'll fix you right up."

"No, I'll be fine. Come on Hibo."

"But I want to go see the ship!"

"We're not seeing their ship! Now come on!"

Chopper was watching their quarrel as was everyone else and he felt inclined to speak.

"By the dirt around your wound it looks like it could be infected! The length and depth could have cut a muscle or vein and you could be in danger! You might lose your arm! I need to take a look at it and treat it before it's too late!" Chopper covered his mouth from the sudden outburst since he didn't do it a lot, but when it came to people's safety he never took his chances.

Monoka was looking at him and saw he was telling the truth. Fearing that truth, she obliged.

"Fine, the local doctor doesn't like me anyways." Monoka turned around to walk to the ship. Hibo got stars in his eyes again.

"Yay! I get to see a real pirate ship!" He started to jump circles around Monoka yelling out strange things about pirates, and ships and something else about potato salad but she ignored him. Suddenly, she turned to the others to speak.

"Don't forget about those men. There are more around the corner and in two back alleys over. Get them to their ship and just shove them off. We can't have passed out men lying around here." Luffy, Sanji, Usopp and Zoro nodded, deciding to do it themselves. They walked off in the other direction. Nami stood there dumbfounded.

"What did those idiots get us into?" Nami sunk her head low and followed Chopper and these new people to the ship.


	2. Free Meal

Chapter 2: Free Meal

"Wow! A real pirate ship!" Hibo was bouncing around excitedly as he stepped foot on the Going Merry. He tried to run around the whole ship to see everything but he was restrained by Monoka's hand gripping his collar. Her other arm was being looked at by Chopper. She looked around suspicious of all the pirates whom she still didn't fully trust. Hibo continued to run in place trying to make his way out of Monoka's grip.

"Hibo stop! If you fall over into the water I don't know what I'd do! Calm down." Chopper led Monoka and Hibo down to the infirmary.

"Can I go see everything? Please Monoka? Please!" Hibo jumped up and down just to annoy her. She sat as Chopper had motioned and put her arm on a table. She grumbled rubbing her head.

"Fine Hibo, you can go and look around but be careful. Make sure to stay closer to the center of the ship so you won't fall in, okay?" She started to loosen her grip on his shirt. He nodded furiously and shot out of the room once Monoka had let go. She sighed as she watched the door swing open.

"He's gonna get himself killed one of these days." Monoka winced as Chopper put some soap over her now crusted over wound.

"What was going on back there? Usopp told me that a little boy was hurt and now I'm treating you." He lifted Monoka's arm to examine it and see if any of her muscles were disrupted.

"Misinformation." Monoka paused, thinking about switching the subject. "I've seen many strange things in my life, but a talking reindeer doctor takes the cake."

"Well don't worry, I was taught by the best." Chopper set her arm down and grabbed for some bandages.

"You all don't seem like normal pirates I've ever seen before."

"You have no idea," Chopper finished Monoka's arm with bandage after seeing nothing caused her to be in danger. "You're all done here."

"Thank you, you and your crew are very kind for helping us."

"No problem!" Chopper and Monoka were smiling at each other when Nami walked into the room.

"Hey!" Nami started as she walked down the stairs to glare angrily at Monoka. "What the hell happened back there? First, those guys ran off to defeat you and now Chopper's helping you mend a wound?" Nami stood with her arms on her hips looking down at the still sitting Monoka. Monoka met her glare and stood up to reveal that she was several inches taller than her. The death glare Monoka was giving Nami combined with the dried blood in her wavy hair made Nami take a step back and gulp.

"If we are unwanted, we will leave." Monoka still stared at Nami who was now staring back. Chopper was looking frantically between the two.

"It's okay Nami, there was a misunderstanding. The men chasing her were the Navy." Neither girl looked down at Chopper to break their stares but both listened to what he said.

"So you're wanted by the Navy? Are you a pirate with a bounty on your head or something?" Nami crossed her arms waiting for an answer. Monoka smirked and took her gaze away from Nami for the first time since her entering. She started walking toward her so she could leave.

"I'd never lower myself to that of a pirate." She started up the stairs passing a blue haired woman.

"Oh! Who are you?"

"No one of your concern."

"Wait a second! If you're not a pirate then why does the Navy want you?" Nami yelled up to Monoka.

"They're after me!" Hibo appeared at the top of the steps, smiling. He was still excited that he was on a pirate ship. Monoka went wide eyed and sprinted up the steps and grabbed Hibo and covered his mouth.

"Hibo! Sh!"

"You know, Usopp said the men were going for the boy, we already knew," Chopper spoke up. Monoka stared at him blank faced.

"I was banking on you all being stupid. You are pirates after all." Monoka let go of Hibo. Grabbed his hand and walked away. Everyone in the infirmary followed. "Come on Hibo, we're leaving."

"But Monoka! I want to—HOLY CRAP A DUCK!" Hibo caught sight of Koru and jumped on Monoka's back staring at him. Koru screamed the way ducks scream and ran behind Vivi.

"Watch your language boy!" Monoka was trying to scold Hibo for his words but was distracted by the cowering duck. "Oh for God's sake." She slapped her face and sighed getting tired of all of this. "Hibo, let's go now!" Monoka walked to the railing where she was planning on jumping off of but something stopped her.

"HI!" Luffy's head popped up from behind the railing and jumped onto the ship. Sanji, Usopp and Zoro soon followed. Hibo laughed at his entrance and waved from Monoka's back.

"Did you get rid of the bodies?" Monoka asked concerned.

"Yeah, but walking through town with a ton of unconscious men didn't make the best impression on the village folk." Usopp walked over to the center of the deck.

"If I recall, you weren't carrying anyone Usopp. You dragged one guy but then he grunted and you ran off screaming. I had to pick him up myself." Zoro leaned against the railing and got a glare from Usopp.

"Well, if you didn't pick up seven guys at once and left some for the rest of us then maybe that wouldn't have happened!"

"Can you guys stop bickering for two seconds just once?!" Nami stepped forward with her hands gripped in fists. Vivi stood there dumbfounded to everything that was happening. She had been taking a nap and then she woke up to this problem.

"Can anyone tell me who those two are?" Everyone looked at Vivi who was pointing to where Monoka and Hibo were standing.

"Yeah, what are we gonna do about them?" Nami looked at the guys who shrugged. Then, she got a response.

"Already taken care of." Monoka's voice came from below them. She had jumped down while they were distracted and she was walking back into town. She held Hibo in her arms and he was looking longingly back at the ship. He didn't want to leave, he hadn't seen the whole thing yet! However, he decided to let it be since Monoka always knew what was best for him. He rested his head on her shoulder still looking back. He noticed the boy with the straw hat was watching them walk away.

"I'm hungry..." He said to Monoka.

"Okay, we'll go into town and get you some food."

"Did someone say food?!" Luffy shot up all happy again and shot his arms into the air longer than normal human ones should go. Hibo lifted his head and laughed at the antics of the boy who helped them with his strange power.

"Ya hungry Luffy? I'll go make some lunch." Sanji turned around and started for the kitchen.

"Hey I have an idea!" Luffy's voice got to a high pitch so most people in a half mile range could hear him.

"Oh no." Nami was afraid of what was going to come out of his mouth. Luffy's ideas never seemed to be the best.

"Let's have those two join us! Hey Hibo! That's your name right? Wanna join us for lunch?" Luffy was leaning over the railing with his hands to his mouth to amplify his voice, which was not needed. Hibo's eyes widened in happiness and he slipped out of Monoka's grip with ease and ran back to the ship. Monoka whipped around in fear.

"Damnit! Not again!" She ran after him, knowing the bad mistake he would make next. Hibo was still bright eyed at the offer which made Luffy excited as well. The others in the boat were looking on in either confusion or amusement. Hibo was getting closer. Then, he jumped, trying to make it from the ground to the railing of the ship. Monoka's eyes widened and she started to run faster now. She watched Hibo slowly descend too short of his mark. He was going to fall in the water. The crew on the ship gasped and Luffy was getting ready to save him with his stretchy arm but was beat.

Monoka had sped up quite a lot faster after seeing Hibo miss his target. She jumped up toward Hibo with incredible force and glided to him, catching him in her arms. As she kept going forward from her jump, her foot hit the railing and she spun onto the boat right into the guys who stepped in the way to help. They all fell, Monoka rolling over Luffy and Sanji, till she hit the other side of the ship and hit her back. Hibo was safe in her arms.

He was wide eyed, not from excitement anymore but from fear. He crawled out of Monoka's now weak grip and looked at her. She was wheezing and not looking up. More dried blood could be seen on the top of her head from the quarrel earlier.

"Monoka?" He touched her face with his hand gently. Monoka raised her own hand and grabbed his and lightly pulled it off of her face. She gripped it tightly and softened it, and then she spoke.

"Are you okay Hibo?" Monoka still didn't look up, her back was actually killing her now as well as her foot.

"Yes Monoka." Even though her dirty hair covered her face you could still somehow tell she was smiling weakly.

"Good." She grabbed Hibo and brought him into a tight hug. He returned the favor. "That's all that matters."

The others watched the emotional moment in silence. They were unsure if they should speak or not. Luffy and Usopp had turned around from their fallen state and were sitting but Sanji and Zoro had stood up and brushed themselves off. They all still watched in silence.

Monoka started to let go of Hibo and stood up. She looked to the rest of the people who were staring at her strangely.

"Hibo can't swim." Some faces went from confused to understanding, seeing why Monoka was so serious about Hibo. She looked down at Hibo and saw that he had a saddened face from what he did and she didn't want him to feel like that. She knew what would make him feel better. "I think we can stay for lunch." Hibo's eyes brightened. He was happy to be eating a meal on a real pirate ship.

"Great, I'll set up two more plates." Sanji left down stairs.

"Hey, are you okay? You hit the boards pretty hard." Usopp stepped forward to look at a wincing Monoka. She was gripping her back and leaning to one side to stay off her left foot.

"I'll be fine. Even if this day as been hectic, I've had worse." Monoka took her hand away from her back and into her hair. She removed the hair tie and tried running her fingers through it but it got stuck from the dried blood. She made a face at how uncleanly it was. Then, she decided it needed to be washed right away.

"Do you have any rope I could use?" She refrained from eye contact with the still unknown pirates in front of her. She didn't feel any need to get to know these people. Just get her meal and leave.

"Yeah, why?" Nami made a reluctant motion to go and grab some rope from below deck.

"I need to clean my hair." Everyone looked at her strange. How could she clean her hair with rope? "The thicker the better." Nami just nodded staring at her with confusion in her eyes and got some pretty thick rope for her. Monoka nodded to her and started tying it around a pole tight. Everyone continued to stare at her as she did these strange actions that didn't seem to interact with washing hair at all. Once she had the rope tied tight she threw the rest over the side of the boat away from the port on the other side that she had collided with earlier. Then, she jumped on the rail and wrapped her leg around the rope and dropped over the side.

"What are you doing?!" Everyone ran over to the side and looked over waiting to see Monoka bobbing up and down in the water. But they didn't. Monoka had her legs wrapped around the rope and her head was pointing at the water. There were several feet between her and the surface. She looked straight at the water and saw the many faces of the people above her in the reflection with worried faces on. Ignoring them, she wrapped her good arm around the rope and slid down till her hair met the water. Then, she started to get the blood out of it.

"You know, you could have asked to use the shower." Nami scoffed at Monoka's crazy acrobatic solution to a simple problem.

"I have no need to wash anything other than my hair and I'd never use a lowly pirate's restroom in the first place." Monoka untangled her hair to break up the dried blood and release it into the sea. Nami scoffed and walked away from the side of the ship just as Zoro did and he walked to the top deck.

"Pretty stubborn aren't you?" Nami left to see what Sanji was preparing in the kitchen.

"That's cool! How do you do that?!" Luffy thought how Monoka was using the rope was interesting since he'd never seen something like it before. Usopp found it interesting as well.

"Practice." She lifted her head out of the water and looked like she was in an upward sit up position. Monoka grabbed part of the rope that was above her legs and pulled herself into an upright position and climbed back up the rope and onto the boat. She put her wet hair up into a bun, letting two wavy strands of black dyed hair fall to accent her face. She met the faces of several smiling pirates.

"That's a pretty strange move to learn. Does it have a significance really though?" Vivi walked along side Monoka who was heading for what she figured was the kitchen since she saw their supposed cook go into it and Luffy and Usopp were walking there as well. She had left Koru open in the vision of Hibo who smiled evilly at the oversized duck. Chopper looked between the two and followed after the others.

"It used to." Monoka was not very talkative. When she opened the door and looked down to see the group of four talking and laughing she made a disgusted face. They took notice of her and stopped. She turned and walked the other way. Vivi turned as well to see where she was going but went wide eyed at what she saw.

"Koru!" Hibo had jumped onto Koru and was now riding him like a horse while Koru ran around in circles fearing the little yet hyper boy screaming on his back.

"Get off the bird Hibo." Monoka was walking up the stairs, not facing the little boy. But Hibo listened to her and jumped off quickly.

"Sorry Monoka." He was standing still and facing the others who were watching the whole thing from the top of the stairs. Koru was panting wildly as Vivi tried to help him out.

"What's for lunch?!" Hibo ran over to the others and slipped under them all to the kitchen, a room which he hadn't seen yet.

"Two very different people, don'tcha think?" Sanji looked at Nami and Usopp who both nodded in agreement.

"Haha, I like him!" Luffy turned around and followed Hibo down the stairs.

"That's because you're almost exactly alike!" Usopp followed the rest back into the kitchen.

Monoka had walked up the steps to the top deck and she looked out at the town. She stood for a second thinking, and then she looked up to the bird's nest, the highest point on the ship. While looking up, she caught sight of the green haired man resting against the wall in front of the nest. She made no reaction to him as he seemed to be sleeping, but when she looked at his swords, she scoffed. She hated swords.

Moving the thought of them out of her mind, she jumped up silently onto his even higher deck where he sat and jumped over his head. Zoro opened one eye up and looked at Monoka who appeared to be making her way up to the bird's nest, but not by ladder.

She grabbed a protruding pole and swung forward then back on it and flung herself forward again, doing a flip and had her feet land on the same pole. She jumped up and grabbed another pole and did the same thing but in one fell swoop. She jumped again even higher and landed her feet on the actual latter part and jumped to grab the side of the nest and pulled herself up and dropped in. Zoro grunted a bit and closed his eye again.

"Jeez, they're both monkeys." He returned to his nap.

"Wow, she's strong." Vivi had watched Monoka's little acrobat moves from the other side of the ship. She had finally gotten Koru to calm down but he refused to go down into the kitchen where he knew Hibo was.

Monoka stood on the side of the nest looking out at the town again. This time she could see more from farther away. She scanned the horizon and rested her sights on a vast open area filled with debris near the back of the town. Her eyes lingered there for a moment before she was pulled out of her reverie by her own mind. She closed her eyes and sat down on the railing cross legged and perfectly balanced.

"So what's up with you guys, huh? What's the Navy doing going after you?" Nami was sitting at the table and watching Hibo eat food that Sanji gave him that wasn't being prepared for lunch. She was hoping she could get more out of him than Monoka.

"Monoka told me I couldn't tell anyone," Hibo said through a mouthful of food. Nami's head hit the table in anger. Not knowing made her want to know so much more!

"Monoka's her name?" Usopp was still a little slow on learning these people's names.

"Yep, and I'm Hibo." He shoved more food into his small mouth. He liked being around these people and talking. Usually with Monoka she wouldn't let anyone get near him. He didn't know what made her change her mind but he was enjoying it.

"Boy, you sure can eat can't you?" Sanji turned from his cooking to get more food for Hibo to snack on. He grabbed a plate full of fruit and set it in front of Hibo. He grinned and grabbed an apple.

"I love eating. Monoka says I eat way too much. She usually saves her meals and only eats half. But she always eats the rest later. She says we can't afford to be wasting food." He finished his apple and grabbed a pear.

"Low on cash huh? What does Monoka do to make money?"

"We have a street act. People give us money, we're never sure of how much we'll get but if it's sunny and warm we'll rake in a lot! But if it's raining or cold, we won't get all that we need." Hibo caught sight of some cherries at the bottom of the bowl and grabbed a handful and shoved them into his mouth. He spat out the pits like a shot gun back into the bowl.

"Wow, a street act? What? You guys do flips for cash?" Nami tried to grab for a banana on the bowl but it was quickly and mindlessly picked off by Hibo and shoved into his mouth, peel and all.

"Yeah, acrobatic stuff. We used to be in the circus!" From Hibo saying that, eyebrows were raised around the room. So they were carni's?

"Used to?"

"Yeah, the circus was— Wait... I'm not supposed to say that either." Hibo rubbed his chin with his fingers thinking of the things he wasn't supposed to mention. The others dropped to the ground.

"Okay, enough talk, let's eat!" Sanji turned around with the main meal which was a mound of large king salmon. Hibo and Luffy went wide eyed and quickly dug in. The others just stared at their appetites. Well, they were used to Luffy's, but Hibo's was a bit surprising since he just had several snacks and was such a little boy.

"Hey! Zoro! Monoka! Lunch is up!" Sanji stood at the top of the stairs calling them out. Monoka reacted slowly, she walked around the circumference of the railing of the bird's nest and took one last look out at the town. Then, she jumped all the way to the lower deck, landing swiftly, but startling Zoro slightly who had just come from where he slept. They locked eyes for a second before Zoro took a step back as to let Monoka go before him like men should do. She walked in front of him and he followed her down the steps.

"Hey Monoka!"

"Hey Zoro!" Hibo and Luffy had two huge fish stuck in between their teeth and they waved at the two in the entrance laughing through their mouthfuls. Monoka and Zoro just stared as the other two sat back and continued laughing. Monoka stepped forward.

"Hibo, don't talk with your mouth full, you'll choke." Hibo gobbled down the rest of his fish still laughing with Luffy.

"Have a fish Monoka!" Hibo grabbed a fish by the tail and swung it in front of Monoka who stood behind his chair leaning against the wall. She looked quizzically at the fish and Hibo's nature. She grabbed it and he turned back talking and laughing with the others. She couldn't remember the last time Hibo interacted with people like this. He was always a joyous child, always had a smile on his face, but it was always for her. Seeing him able to be like this around others made her feel happy, happy that he wasn't like her. She decided that she wasn't hungry and placed the fish back on the table and walked out.

"I'll be waiting for you Hibo." Monoka walked past everyone and left out the door leaving the rest to stare.

"Kind of a party pooper, huh?" Sanji ate the rest of one of his fish.

"She doesn't like other people. She thinks they're all bad people who want to hurt us. But she used to be really energetic and happy and greeted everyone with a smile! But now, she's lost it all." Hibo sat staring at the open door in sadness. If there was anything he could do to make her happy, for real happy, not just showing her he was okay, he wanted to do it.

"How old are you Hibo?" Nami asked.

"Six and a half." Hibo put up his fingers to show her.

"Well you sound wise beyond your years." Nami's comment made him smile, she grinned back and ruffled the shaggy hair on his head.

"I don't know, I find it hard to believe she was ever a happy person." Zoro was leaning against the wall, not really feeling too hungry.

"Oh no she was! It's just what happened after our brother—" Hibo stopped abruptly, clapping his hands over his mouth. He started to shake his head and said, "I'm not supposed to say that."

"Wait, your brother? You two are siblings?" Nami got a little excited as she started to learn more. But it was interrupted.

"Hibo." Monoka stood at the top of the stairs glaring down. Her arms crossed and she looked extremely mad. "Finish your food and let's go."

"Yes Monoka!" Hibo ate one last big bite of fish and scurried across the room and up the stairs, he disappeared out on the deck. Monoka still stood there staring down as everyone else stared back up at her. She glanced at every person for a second before turning around.

"Hibo thanks you for feeding him." Then she walked out of sight.

"What a weird girl, hard to believe they're brother and sister." Nami took a sip of her drink and looked up at the open door seeing the dark clouds starting to form above them in the sky. "Looks like a storm's coming. We should stay docked till sunrise and wait for it to pass."

--

Shade- That was number two. Give reviews please.


	3. It Begins

Chapter 3: It Begins

Monoka walked silently with Hibo at her side. She walked at a fast pace because she knew a storm was coming soon.

"You're lucky they fed you Hibo, we won't be working tonight," She said, referring to the storm. Hibo looked up at her thinking. She knew he mentioned their brother. She usually yells at him for it, but now she seemed like she was trying to suppress that anger for some strange reason. He decided to not mention it to her and looked back at the ground to shield his eyes from the new rain. Monoka led him into the abandoned warehouse that served as their home, and shut the door labeled 'Restricted.'

Morning

Monoka woke up shivering. She was sitting in a cradled position on a dirty blanket in the corner of the open space that was the warehouse. Monoka slept every night without a blanket covering her. The one she laid upon wasn't large enough to wrap around her and stay on the floor at the same time. There was no way she'd sleep on the dirty floor. At the time, she was trying to save up enough money for a new blanket but she'd probably end up spending it on Hibo as she usually does. She turned so her other shoulder was touching the blanket and bringing it's temperature back up to normal.

"Monoka?" Hibo's small voice ran through the large building echoing slightly. Monoka looked over at Hibo who slept several feet away from her. He had a blanket and a pillow to sleep with, but not enough to share. She titled her head up and saw his sleeping eyes looking at her. She smirked and crawled over to him.

"Yes Hibo?"

"I'm sorry." Hibo rolled over into Monoka's torso and sunk his face into his blanket. She looked down at him slightly confused.

"For what?" She brushed some hair out of Hibo's face when he reappeared to talk.

"For mentioning Tanren." Monoka's eyes got a little bigger at the name, but went soft as she looked back to Hibo. She chuckled a little and wrapped her arm around his back rubbing it.

"It's okay Hibo." She lay down with him, trying to go back to sleep.

Later

The storm that plagued Monoka and Hibo from performing as usual had past and the sun was out, contrasting the puddles that still lay upon the ground. Monoka sat on her blanket to keep from getting dirt on her outfit. She wore a full body leotard, purple in color, with skin colored mesh covering her arms and legs. At the moment, she was fitting Hibo into his outfit that was blue and he sat waiting patiently. Once she was done she picked up her makeup and started to apply it.

"You think we'll do well today?" Hibo stood up and waited for Monoka to finish. He asked his question in reference to how much money they'd make.

"I'm not sure. I don't expect many new boats to have come in after that storm. But something is better than nothing." Monoka finished her make up and stood up looking at Hibo. "Got your gloves?"

"Do I have to wear them?" Hibo whined. His gloves always made him itchy.

"Yes, it's muddy outside and I don't want your hands getting all dirty." Monoka stood there with them in her hands waiting for Hibo to grab them. He huffed and grabbed them. Monoka motioned for him to get the hat while she went and got the chest of performance items.

The Going Merry sat in the port, rocking slowly to the waves that were lashing up its side's just hours before. Sanji was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs reading the newspaper. He didn't feel like making breakfast because he didn't like the idea of wasting food in the town he bought it from. When he finished with the paper he decided to scope the town from the deck for an open restaurant. Once he stepped out, the light wind whipped at his bangs, threatening to reveal his left eye. He scanned the town for an open sign and found several, a couple being restaurants. '_We'll just eat out.'_ As his eyes kept looking over the town for anything else interesting he saw the center of town, filled with people clapping to music.

"Wonder what's going on." He let his eyes rest on the crowd for a second trying to see what they were crowded around. Occasionally he saw someone in purple and blue moving around but another spectator would cloud his vision. Then, catching his attention, he saw a small body fly into the air wearing blue with piercing blonde hair. He scrunched his nose trying to figure out what was happening making everyone gasp and clap in excitement. He wanted to get closer to the center of town to see but he knew his nakama would be wondering where breakfast was.

'_Maybe it'll be there once we go in...'_ He decided to let it go till everyone else was up. He turned around, the wind now pushing him to go back inside. He stepped down the stairs and went back to the kitchen to see if he missed anything in the paper.

"Well that was a pretty good day, don't you think Hibo?" Monoka was walking with Hibo down to the beach. They had finished up their act for the morning and deposited all their things back in the chest into the warehouse. Right now, they were going to bathe in the sea since they didn't have a bathroom and no one would take them in.

"How much do you think we made?" Hibo was a few steps ahead of Monoka as they walked along the port.

"I think enough to not have to perform tonight. That's good too. I have to go meet with Bo." Monoka and Hibo turned down the stairs at the end of the port and stepped into the surprisingly warm sand. They were slightly surprised at how the sand dried up so quickly after the storm.

"Is Bo gonna give us more food?"

"I don't think so. We already used up our five free meals this month. He can't give us anymore." Bo was a friend Monoka had made years ago. They met when he went to see the circus for the first time and they've been friends ever since.

Monoka stepped with Hibo by the little spot they bathed. It had shallow areas so Hibo wouldn't drown, and was circled by rocks so they had more privacy. A tree hung out at the ocean, its roots working their way down through the rocks and over the vast sea. The shadow it made was cast over their little bath because of the position of the sun. Monoka dropped her towel on a rock and started to slip off her shorts to reveal a bathing suit bottom. She made sure her and Hibo would never bathe in the nude outside where anyone could walk by and see them. They got in and started to clean themselves.

"Hey Sanji! Where's breakfast?" Luffy came bounding into the kitchen with Usopp and Nami looking perplexed at the empty table in front of him.

"I figured we could eat out for breakfast. Since we're at a port I didn't want to waste any food." Sanji stood getting prepared to leave for the town again.

"Okay, let's get the others and we can go eat then." Nami turned around and led the others out onto the deck.

The group walked up to the first open restaurant that they saw which was located right near the sea so it had a very good view. Walking inside, they could see it was already half filled up with people eating their breakfasts and talking to friends and family. They took an empty table near a window that faced the ocean and waited to be served.

"Hello, my name is Bo, I will be your waiter for the morning. Can I get anyone any drinks?" The group went around counterclockwise and read off what they wanted. Since it was still pretty early, most of them ordered either orange juice or milk. Bo gave them a smile and walked off to let them decide what to eat and get them their drinks.

"A show?" The group had now focused to Sanji who had mentioned what he saw just several hours earlier that was no longer there when they left.

"Seemed like it. There was a group of people clapping for something that I couldn't really see. I had wished to leave the ship earlier but the swordsman just had to sleep in like always." Sanji sneered toward Zoro who wasn't looking at him but was still listening.

"Hey, I need my sleep okay?" Zoro growled a bit and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well you certainly need some beauty sleep, that's for sure." Sanji closed his eyes as a little bit of sleep overtook him and he suppressed a yawn.

"You wanna start something pretty boy?!" Zoro shot up and shook his fist in Sanji's still calm face. However, he was interrupted by their waiter coming back with their drinks. Bo ignored the pending fight, thinking his presence stopped it at the roots and served up the drinks in the same way they were ordered. When he was done, he stood up straight and asked for the final orders. Jotting them down quickly, he left once again, glancing over his shoulder to see the two fighting males and seeing if it were going to come up again. They seemed calm, so he walked back into the kitchen and gave the cooks the orders.

"Hey, this stuff is pretty good." Nami sat calmly next to Luffy who was attracting stares because of his exuberant ways of eating food. Bo stood, mouth agape, at Luffy's expanding stomach that wouldn't cease in increasing. He then remembered something a friend of his told him a couple years ago…

"_There's this one fruit called the gum gum fruit. It lets a person expand their body just like rubber! Man, if we had that, we'd be the most popular circus in the whole world!"_

Bo smiled at the old personality his friend once had. Thinking of her, he recalled what time it was and walked to the window that over looked the ocean and a big tree that was growing right in front of the window. He looked down and could faintly hear laughing and see splashing between the limbs of the tree. There she was, with Hibo taking a bath like every morning. Bo contemplated if he could sneak away for a couple minutes to talk with Monoka since she had told him she needed to tell him something important. This thought, however, died when he was called over to one of his tables. He turned from the window and walked over to answer a question an old woman had about times when they started to serve lunch.

"Wow! That was delicious! I want some more!"

"Too bad Luffy, if you want more food I'm cooking it for you, we can't waste more money on your eating habits." Sanji stood up after placing enough money down on the table and a little extra for Bo since he was a pretty good waiter. While he was taking the chair out of Nami's way while she stood up, he heard the faint sound of a little boy laughing. Wondering where it was coming from, he walked to the window where the sound seemed to be and looked down. Instantly, his eyes grew large and his heart started to beat faster. Slowly, as he rest his head against the glass in a loss of muscle function, a devious smile crept onto his face.

"Sanji? Are you okay?" Usopp looked back at Sanji in question as did everyone else. His heaving chest and his head leaning against the window made them think he was getting sick. Slowly, Sanji turned around and a familiar look was in his eye.

"Bikini!" Sanji had beating pink hearts in his eyes and he seemed lighter than a feather. The crew instantly fell to the floor, surprised Sanji could be such his lady's-man-self so early in the morning.

"What are you talking about?" Everyone walked to the window and looked down. However, they saw nothing. Only the large tree and a little watering hole elevated from the sea. Nothing seemed to be wearing a bikini as Sanji had said.

"Is he daydreaming again?"

"That's the only explanation." As everyone else talked about him Sanji kept searching through the leaves of the tree for the same girl whom they had seen yesterday. He saw her in a bikini! He was sure of it. Not everything makes him break out into his heart eyes so quickly. He kept searching but didn't find her. Giving up, Sanji turned sullen back around and walked out of the restaurant.

"Why'd you do that Monoka?" Hibo was walking quickly to keep up with his sister who was holding his hand. They had seen the blonde man in the window above them. Hibo was about the wave, but Monoka stopped him. When the guy turned from the window Monoka got out quickly and started walking back to the warehouse. Monoka didn't answer him. She was too caught up in her own thoughts.

'I figured they'd still be here. No person in their right mind would go out in a storm like that. I hope they leave soon though. Don't need any pirates influencing Hibo.' Monoka kept walking with Hibo in tow till they were safe inside their warehouse.

Later

"Hibo, I need to go talk to Bo for a bit. Can I trust you to stay here and not get into any trouble?" Monoka had changed into the same clothes she wore the day before because they were her only remotely clean ones. Some of the stains she had gotten on the others were tough to get out. She was at the door of the warehouse looking down at Hibo who just nodded, shaking his blonde hair into his eyes. He looked back up at Monoka and she just laughed. She bent down and brushed the hair out of his face and pinched his cheeks shaking his face.

"Monoka!" Hibo tried to get Monoka to stop but her hands were too big in comparison to his.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. And don't do anything okay? Just play some games." She stood up and walked out of the door waving back to Hibo. He didn't like it when he had to stay in the warehouse alone. It was really boring. He went up into the loft where the windows were and looked out to watch his sister walk off to the boardwalk down to the restaurant where Bo worked. When she was out of sight, Hibo sighed. Monoka didn't have the best sense of time so when she said she'd be back soon, it would usually be most of the day.

Just when he was about to turn away from the window, he caught sight of a certain ship in the harbor. His heart began to race when he saw the same ship he had dinner in just last night. Seeing it still there made him think about going back and seeing them. They were all such fun people, it had been a while since he was with someone other than Monoka or Bo. He knew he shouldn't, but he really wanted to. And if he was careful enough to know when to leave before Monoka would likely come back he should be fine. A smile made its way onto his face as he made his decision. Jumping fluidly down from the loft to the main floor, he ran to the door and bolted outside down to the harbor.

"You guys think we should head off now?" The crew of the Going Merry was gathered together on the deck looking up at the sky. It had taken on a gray tint since finishing their breakfast, and dark clouds seemed to be rolling in. Everyone looked at Nami for an answer since she was good with these types of situations.

"I'm not sure. It looks like a storm's coming but I can't feel it. Just in case, we should wait a few more hours and see how this weather turns out. I think it'll be fine but we can't take any chances." The crew agreed with her and started to head back into the cabin when a voice captured their attention.

"Hi guys!" The high voice of a young boy came from below them on the boardwalk and the crew walked over to the side of the ship and looked down to see little Hibo looking back up at them. They all smiled.

"Hey Hibo! What are you doing?" Luffy leaned over the side of the ship and stared down at the boy for an answer.

"I wanted to hang out with you guys. Monoka is busy right now and I don't want to be alone."

"Well come on up!" Luffy then stretched his arms out and went to pluck Hibo from of the boardwalk. While Luffy's fingers wrapped around his midsection, he let out a small laugh as he was pulled up on board. When he was let go, he stood in the attention of all the pirates whom he had met just yesterday.

"Thank you!" Hibo started to laugh again as the pirates led him into the cabin to get a small bite to eat.

"Bo? Are you here?" Monoka had just walked into the back of the restaurant after she detoured for a couple minutes. She greeted some of the chefs who gave her a dirty look and covered the food they had as if her presence would instantly taint it.

Ignoring them, she went to the front of the kitchen where a door leading out to the balcony was so she could talk to Bo on his break. She walked out and saw the balcony empty as it usually was during not so good weather. No one wanted to eat out there when it was like this. She swiftly jumped over the railing to land gently on the rocks that were embedded into the side of the cliff and she walked carefully to where she knew she would find her friend.

Emerging from out under the balcony, Bo turned to her and smiled. She smiled back and stepped in front of him to sit at his left. Bo had a cigarette in his mouth but it wasn't lit. He seemed to be patting his chest looking for his lighter. While Monoka watched, she laughed in her head as she noticed the green lighter on a rock twenty feet below them. Before telling him, she whipped out her own lighter, a light purple one, and lit his cigarette. Motioning below them, Bo finally saw what she did and swore to himself. His dark brown hair rivaled Monoka's light with black streaks, as it fell onto his hand that covered his face in agitation at his dropping yet another lighter down there.

"You know at one point the cumulative power of all those lost lighters will light at once and burn down this place right?" She smiled and slipped a cigarette out of Bo's pack smoothly like a sword out of a sheath and lit her own. He nodded quickly before getting to the point of their meeting.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Monoka looked out toward the ocean and took a fast drag. She had hoped that they would ease into what she had to tell him. But it looked like it didn't matter now. So, she began.

"Leaving? Are you serious?" Bo sat staring at the friend he had known for as long as he wanted to remember and couldn't believe what she was telling him.

"Maybe, well, I don't know. It's just…" Monoka was having trouble putting her words together the way she wanted. It seemed a whole lot easier when she was planning them at night when she should have been getting sleep. She couldn't find the strength to look him in the eyes since they were the eyes that led her to take any interest in him at all. They changed color throughout the year like a mood ring and always seemed to accurately display his emotion at the right time. Now, there was no way she could look into the deep blue eyes of a saddened friend.

"Monoka, what's going on?"

"The Navy has been after Hibo for a long time, and so have pirates. Before, all of them showing up was rare and easy to fight against. Now, however, it's getting more frequent and more dangerous. I just want Hibo to be safe and anywhere but here would help that need." As Monoka explained her reasons to Bo they made perfect sense, but something in Monoka's tone showed something else. For all he knew it was just fear, and at this point, that's all he took it for.

Before responding, he looked at Monoka side long who stared out at the ocean blankly as if she were just staring at a wall. He thought about it, and realized it would be for the best, for Hibo and for Monoka. Lord knows how many times she had been beat up bad after defending her brother's life. Therefore, hers was at stake too.

"Okay." Bo, now, was the one looking out at the sea, seeing where Monoka would soon be traveling. Monoka then looked at him surprised. "I don't know if you were asking for my praise or just informing me of your decision, but whatever it is, I'm okay with it. You're right, you would be safer somewhere else. Hibo too." Now, they did look into each others eyes as if continuing their conversation wordlessly.

"You know, I'm still not sure if we should leave so soon. I mean, we don't even know where we could go. We'd be a lot more vulnerable out in the middle of the ocean with no where to go if anyone bad showed up." Bo agreed, and they started to talk about arrangements for a boat and a place to go. However, they easily got side tracked, and started to talk with the depth only found in the strongest of friendships. They sat like that for hours, Bo ignoring the fact that he should be working, and Monoka forgetting her promise to Hibo yet again.

"Yeah, we did all these cools things, like use swords and other props and stuff but these swords were real!" Hibo was standing on top of the kitchen table in the Going Merry providing a great show for the rest. He was a born entertainer anyways. Hibo was explaining all the things that happened in the circus. The acts, the crowds, the people, the food (which was attracting Luffy greatly).

"Real swords huh?" By the word 'swords' Zoro got interested in what the kid was saying.

"Yeah, three kinds, fighting, juggling, and swallowing. Monoka used to do all of them." By the first sound of her name, the whole crew started to think about her attitude.

"I figured she had used a sword before by the way she used mine. Only, there was one strange thing I noticed about the guys she fended off—" Zoro's words were suddenly cut off by Luffy and his stomach.

"Go back to the food!" Luffy was drooling after hearing about sweet popcorn, cotton candy and chocolate. Zoro stared at him in anger for interrupting him, but ignored it and just scowled at Luffy to himself.

"Wait a minute, juggling and _swallowing_ swords? How can she do that?" Usopp was fascinated by the things Hibo was telling him. The circus sounded like a fun place and he wished he could go someday.

"By practice and lots of it. I remember Monoka practicing when we she was just learning, she was perfectly fine with the juggling because she already knew how to do it, but the swallowing, oh man! She was so afraid she would cut herself, but she learned on the dull blade swords and she was fine." Hibo's face brightened. He jumped off of the table and turned to speak. "I can show you our equipment!" Hibo darted toward the door but was stopped by Sanji.

"Whoa, hey there little man, what are you talking about?"

"The things we used in show. They were the only ones that made it. I'll go get them!" Before Sanji or anyone else could ask about the "only ones that made it" statement, Hibo had slipped out like butter and was already running back toward the warehouse. They all looked at each other slightly confused, but still waited for his return.

As Hibo got closer to the warehouse he already could tell that Monoka was still with Bo. He knew he had a solid couple of hours since she and Bo could talk for hours on end. Hibo got inside and grabbed the trunk that basically held anything and everything they owned and held dear. Dragging it out, he pulled it all the way back to the ship.

"Wow, look at this stuff." Luffy was gazing at the trunk he helped get inside the ship as Hibo was searching through it. Everyone was waiting for what he was to pull out.

"Here it is." Slowly, Hibo tried to pick up a sword and sheath that was trapped under some other things but he was having trouble. Quickly, Zoro grabbed the sword out of his hands and unsheathed it. Hibo looked up and everyone else was staring at Zoro's expression as he looked at the sword.

"Something up Zoro?"

"This is a great sword. Is it hers?" Zoro briefly looked away from the shine on the blade to look down at Hibo, referring to Monoka.

"Yeah, but she hasn't touched it in a while. It used to be our grandfather's and he gave it to her when she was young. I was too young to remember her training with it, but I _do_ remember she never liked other people touching it." Hibo had a hint of anger in his voice at Zoro for just grabbing the sword out of his hands. He gave him the death glare until Zoro understood and sheathed it and gave it back. Hibo kept searching through the trunk finding old newspaper articles about the circus with pictures of his family in action. There was one that puzzled the crew. It was Monoka, all done up in a light purple leotard, and the position she was in seemed utterly impossible. She was doing a sort of hand stand except her body was not pointed straight up but bent so her feet were by her face. Her back looked so flexible that it made Usopp slightly sick to just look at it. After a while, the attention was turned away from the trunk and everyone just stood around on deck.

"It looks like the weather is getting better. We should be able to head out in about an hour or so." Nami looked out at their destination and it looked like clear skies for the most part. When she looked down, she could see Hibo had a sad look on his face. He didn't want them to leave so quickly, he was enjoying himself. Nami, seeing his sadness, decided to try and cheer him up a bit. "Hey, how about I go buy you an ice cream?" Nami bent down to Hibo's face and saw him brighten. She could see similarities between his face and his sister's. While they got off the ship Nami wondered how such a fun young boy could stay that way with a sister like Monoka. She seemed so defensive toward everyone. Anyone that messed with her little brother. She took the hostility that she saw from Monoka as the feelings of a big sister and let it go. While they walked off the board walk into town, Hibo was staring intently at the restaurant that they had breakfast at. She didn't know why exactly, but ignored it. Hibo didn't rip his eyes away till he saw two lines of cigarette smoke coming from the front. He sighed in slight happiness, and continued on.

Later

"Well Hibo, don't you think you should be getting home? It is getting late and we were supposed to head out hours ago." Nami and Hibo were sitting next to each other near the bow of the ship as everyone else was doing their own thing. Hibo looked out at the sea before answering.

"I guess." Hibo still didn't want them to leave. This was the most fun he'd had in a while. Not to say that Monoka wasn't fun, it's just that this was different than any times before.

"Come on, I'll go help you with your trunk." Nami stood up but Hibo was quick to follow.

"Oh no, I can get it myself…" Hibo took a pause to yawn really big. It was that time of the day where he usually took a nap.

"Getting tired are you?" Nami chuckled and walked down into the lower part of the ship to her room for a bit before leaving again to say goodbye to Hibo. When she walked in, she laid down on her bed for a second when a yawn came over her. 'Hm,' she thought, 'It looks like Hibo is rubbing off on me.' She smiled at her thought before slowly going off into a nap.

"Hey Hibo, ya leaving?" Sanji was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper again. Hibo gave a lazy nod to him as he rubbed the sleep from one of his eyes. Sanji grinned and stood up. "Could I give you a hand?"

"Oh no, I'll be fine." Just as Hibo said this, a noise came from up on the deck. Sanji's face changed.

"Luffy! What are you doing now?" Quickly, he left the kitchen and left Hibo alone. Hibo went into the men's quarters' room where they had left the trunk and started to drag it out. While he was going across the kitchen floor though, he caught sight of the closet in the back of the kitchen. Leaving his trunk for a bit, he opened it and looked inside. At first, he didn't see much, but looked up to saw a wooden box that was slightly open a couple of feet in. he noticed that it was a pantry for the food and started to smile. He caught a whiff of a smell and followed it to the wooden box. It smelled like ginger, something he loved but rarely got to eat. Pulling the trunk along with him, he let out another yawn and stood up onto the trunk and grabbed the box. Bringing it down, he looked inside and saw some of the ginger he knew he smelt. Smiling, he took some and put it on his tongue. Slowly, as he enjoyed the taste, he started to nod off. Then, the box fell from his grip colliding with the floor. No one heard it though, because they were all on the upper deck. Soon enough, Hibo was sound asleep in the center of the pantry to no one's knowledge.

"Well the next time you want to catch a fish with your bare hands Luffy, make sure it's not attached to another fisher's line!" Sanji, Luffy and Usopp walked down into the kitchen and sat at the tables.

"Did Hibo leave?"

"His trunk is gone. I didn't see him though. Jeez, that kid is some kinda monkey magician hybrid with the things he's done."

"Yeah, he reminds me of my crew back home." Usopp took a cookie from out of the center of the table and ate it.

"Hey guys, did Hibo already leave?" Nami came into doorway looking like she just woke up. She came and sat down next to Sanji.

"Yeah, you must have missed him."

"Shoot, I wanted to say good bye."

"You know what I want? Food!" Luffy stood up quickly and started for the pantry where he knew he could find loafs of bread. However, before he could get to the knob, it was shut in his face by Sanji.

"Sorry Luff, no eating till we head out. I told you I don't like wasting too much food in the place I got it from."

"Man, can't we head out then?"

"We should, we should have hours ago actually." Nami stood up and walked to the deck with the others in tow.

"Wake Zoro up! We're heading out!" Nami looked to the blue skies with promise and knew for sure they should be fine. Then, Zoro came into her vision from the upper deck after waking up. "Hey, did you see Hibo leave?"

"Who? Oh, yeah, him… uh… yeah, I did." Zoro's answer was actually from his own dream. But he was too tired to be able to tell the difference from truth and imaginary.

"Okay, let's shove off then!"

--

Shade- Number three.


	4. Boarding

Shade- I still don't own One Piece.

--

Chapter 4: Boarding

"Thanks for listening to this, I think leaving is the best way. It's just too bad I won't be able to see you again." Monoka stood up slowly and stretched since she was sitting there for hours. She flicked her last cigarette into the sea and walked back under the balcony. Bo followed her and tried to slip through the kitchen unnoticed by his boss who was probably furious with him for skipping work. Once they were in the clear, they started to walk back to the warehouse.

"Does Hibo know?" Bo walked alongside Monoka through the center of town. He stopped for a second to quickly buy a new lighter from the magazine stand. Catching up to Monoka's stride, he got his answer.

"No, I haven't found the right time. Maybe if I tell him now, with you there, it'll be better?" Monoka looked at Bo to see if he agreed and he nodded. He got closer to Monoka and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a friendly way as they got into sight of the warehouse. As they walked, they passed the opening toward the docks where the ships were at bay. Monoka looked toward the sea and saw the ship she was at before gone. A small smile found its way onto her face and she turned back to where she was walking.

"Hibo! I'm back! Sorry I took a while longer than expected… Hibo?" Monoka walked in through the door that oddly stood ajar. She sped walked inside out of Bo's hold and looked around on the base floor. She saw nothing, not even their trunk. As her heart began to race, she quickly climbed the ladder to the second floor, all the while yelling his name out. Once she got to the top and found it empty, she froze. Quickly, she ran to the window and peered out over the center of town. Where was he? "Hibo!" Monoka climbed a short ladder that lead to the hatch to the roof and quickly opened it. Out on the roof, she peered full circle around town to see if she could find her brother's piercing blonde hair. Nothing. A knot formed in her throat as she thought of all the situations Hibo could be in alone. She continued to look more intently and slower as Bo made his way onto the roof.

"What's going on? Where is he?" Bo looked in the directions that Monoka was and saw the utter horror on her face. All the while, she continued to say under her breath 'my fault' over and over again. "Monoka?" He moved to try and touch her arm but she quickly jumped up on the siding of the building and looked out toward the harbor. Her eyes flickered from the water to the ground of the town and ran along the dirt to the entrance of the warehouse several times before she realized what probably happened.

"Oh my God," she whispered and, completely ignoring Bo, jumped from the top of the building and landed swiftly onto the ground. Bo looked over the side of the building for a couple seconds before deciding to descend to the ground the conventional way; with ladders. By the time he got to the ground outside the warehouse, Monoka was staring at the ground under her feet and walking out toward the marina.

"Monoka? What in the hell are you doing? Where's Hibo?! I thought you said he was there!" Bo followed her and could tell she wasn't listening to him. Monoka kept walking in a hunched over position, sweat dripping onto the dirt. People stared at her strangely and Bo gave them apologetic looks as if Monoka was disrupting their day by doing what she was. "Monoka! Tell me what you're doing now!" Finally, stopped several inches before the end of the dirt and the start of the boardwalk, Monoka stood up with her eyes bigger than they'd ever been.

"_They took him…_" Monoka's mouth was agape, she stared at the open space that had once been occupied by the ship Hibo had been so infatuated with. Since Monoka hadn't been responding to his questions, he had been staring at the ground along with her trying to see what she was looking at. All he saw was a wide line of disrupted dirt as if something had been dragged along the ground.

He looked up, and saw the pale face of his friend. "Monoka?" His voice had become a small whisper as well and looked at the pending terror in her eyes.

"_Those bastards took him…_"

"Monoka? What's going on?"

"Hibo is with them. He's with those damn pirates!" Monoka then ran off down the boardwalk at full sprint, Bo in tow. She skidded to a stop at the end where boat rental was located. Quickly, she jumped into the boat and threw some money at the man working the boats.

"Wait Monoka, what? With who? And WHAT are you doing?"

"I'm going after him. I'm getting him away from those God forsaking pirates!" Then, Monoka tried to shove off as hard as she could away from the dock but Bo had grabbed a hold of the side.

"Monoka hold up a second! Think about what you're doing! You don't know that he's out there! He could be getting an ice cream in the center of town for all you know!" At this, Monoka stood up in front of Bo right in the front of the wooden boat and stared at him sternly.

"Did you see what I saw in the dirt back there?" Monoka pointed back to the place that they had been before running down here. He looked back briefly still holding on tightly so she couldn't get away. "Those drag marks are from the trunk that we have _everything_ in. They stopped right in front of the place that stupid pirate ship was! The one we ate at, remember?" Bo recalled the part of the conversation earlier where Monoka ranted about how horrible pirates were and how it was hard to get Hibo to stop talking about them when he got started. "He is with them! And I need to get him back! Now let go and let me get him!" Monoka grabbed Bo's hands that still gripped the side of the boat and looked into his eyes intently, trying to tell him to let her go. After a few seconds, Bo gave in, and slowly let go of the boat and gave it a little shove out to sea. As she floated away, she looked back and said, "Thank you." When she turned around to face the endless sea, she unknowingly let the last sight of her home fade in her mind.

-

The Going Merry was sailing strong in the wind of the ocean and everyone sat around lazily waiting to get to the next port. The sun was shining and the gray clouds that once were had dispersed and only showed a shining sun reflecting off the water. Sanji was in the kitchen making their next meal. He put tomatoes into a big pot that was boiling and started to stir the concoction even more. Thinking about what else he needed to put inside, he was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a sound from the pantry.

He froze. The boat wasn't rocking hard so nothing could have fallen off of the shelves. When he heard the noise again but louder, he grabbed for a knife that was at his side. There wasn't enough room in the kitchen to do any kicking moves, so he resorted to a knife. He slowly began to turn around to face the pantry. He heard some grunts and coughs while he walked toward the door. Reaching for the knob very slowly, he prepared his knife above his head in case whatever was inside was going to attack him. However, before his finger tips could reach the metallic knob, it twisted before him, and the door began to creak open. Suddenly, Sanji readied his hand with the knife high in the air ready to come down. And then he froze again. Staring down below him was Hibo. His mouth hung open surprised that he was there. Hibo's did the same since there was a knife aiming for his head. Then, simultaneously, they both screamed.

"AHHHH! What are you doing here?!" Sanji fell backwards onto the kitchen table with the knife clutched to his chest trying to get his beating heart to rest. Hibo had jumped back in fear and fell over his trunk, his short legs sticking up in the air. More loud noises came from the kitchen and alerted the others.

"Sanji? What the hell is going on here?" Nami walked into the kitchen and saw Sanji shivering on the table and staring into the pantry. He was pointing forward with a shaky finger and trying to form words in his mouth.

"It's the kid!" At the words, Nami went wide eyed and hurried to the front of the pantry door. If possible, her eyes got even wider as she saw the little blonde haired boy rubbing his head in the middle of their pantry.

"Hibo?" She covered her mouth in astonishment before her surprise subsided into anger. Bringing her newly formed fists to her side, her face took on a tint of red and a small stream of smoke came from the top of her head like a rumbling volcano. Sanji stared at her in horror knowing what was to come. Then, an eruption came from her mouth, saying one word. "ZORO!"

-

Monoka was slowly motoring out into the sea staring forward. She was unsure of where this ship was or at what time it had left, for all she knew she was going in the wrong direction. But she had to find Hibo no matter what. She could see several ships in the distance and banking on one of them being the one he was on. As she sat silently in the boat, she went over the conversation she had before she left to go talk with Bo.

"_Hibo, I need to go talk to Bo for a bit. Can I trust you to stay here and not get into any trouble?"_

"_Monoka!"_

"_Don't worry, I'll be back soon…"_

'God I'm an idiot! I always say I'll be back soon and then go off for hours thinking Hibo is fine in the warehouse. Man, this is all my fault.' Monoka was starting to imagine Hibo on the ship with all those filthy pirates. Even if they were nice to him and gave him food they're still pirates! She could see him, standing near the edge of the ship and falling in. Then, she could see him sinking, trying his hardest to make it to the surface but couldn't because he couldn't swim. Monoka started to shake just thinking about it. Gripping the side of the dinky boat she was in, she could feel the tension in her hand. Finally, looking forward, she could see one ship getting closer and she strained to see if it was the same one that she was on before. Squinting, she could just make out the picture of a skeleton head with a straw hat on.

-

"Zoro! Get your ass down here! You said that you saw Hibo leave the ship!" Nami was storming to the deck of the ship with Sanji and Hibo behind her. She was flaming red in the face and looked about ready to kill something, presumably Zoro.

"What?" Awaking from his nap, Zoro rubbed his eyes and looked straight into Nami's face which he could clearly see was not in the best of moods. As she was huffing, he was trying to think of anything he did to make her as mad as she appeared to be. However, before he could finish a thought, he got whacked in the side of the head. "OW!"

"God damnit Zoro! Why did you say you saw Hibo leave when he actually didn't?!"

"Hibo isn't gone?"

"No!"

"Where's Monoka?" Hibo appeared on the upper deck and was rubbing his eyes. He was still pretty tired and had yet to comprehend that he was out at sea.

"Your sister's back home, where you should be. And it's all the swordsman's fault!" Sanji was behind Hibo, looking at Zoro with an equally angry face as Nami's.

"What are you looking at me for?! I said I saw him leave!" Zoro stood up, trying to defend the stupidity that comes over him when he's tired.

"Obviously you didn't because he never even made it onto the upper deck! Oh man, what are we gonna do? We're so far away from the town. We have to turn back, we have to get him back home. Everybody! Listen up! We're turning this ship around and sailing back to port!" Nami was pacing around the deck, forming ideas and theorems in her head about the time they were losing and seeing if they could make it up.

"What? Why?" Luffy, who was manning the bird's nest while Usopp went to the bathroom, looked over the side, not really listening to anything that was happening below because he felt rather tired himself. Only when Nami addressed them all with a loud voice did he perk up. He peered over the side to see what was happening and a bright smile made its way onto his face. "Hibo! What are you doing here?" Luffy gave one of his signature laughs and jumped down from the bird's nest right next to a now awake Hibo.

"Hi Luffy! I fell asleep in the kitchen." Hibo, who was now thinking about being on a strange ship with people whom he still didn't really know, was truly missing his sister and the safety that she brought to him.

"Oh really? I thought you had left off for home." Hibo shook his head slowly and gave Luffy a frown, showing him how scared he was to be away from Monoka. A strange silence washed over the crew as clouds began to form slowly above their heads. Nami's nose twitched a little and she widened her stare a little and looked up.

"Shit," Nami whispered under her breath. A storm was coming soon. This was the most erratic weather she had seen in a while and it was coming at the worst time. She looked back down at Hibo who had now put his thumb in his mouth and it made him look even more helpless now than before. If they turned back now they would have to stay at least another night back at the previous port that they had just been. This whole thing was making them lose so much time, and time was essential when in the Grand Line. Nami tried to review in her head how far they had sailed and how close their next port was. Remembering, she could imagine seeing the map and seeing that they had sailed over two thirds of the way there. If they continued to sail they could beat out the worst of the storm. However, if they sailed back to return Hibo, they would have to face nearly the whole storm before getting back. Her anger was surfacing again and she put her face in her hands and made a large, audible groan and walked back down so she could get to her Navigator's Room. "Hibo, come with me, I don't want you out on deck. A storm is coming." Hibo nodded and scuttled across the deck toward her, his thumb still in his mouth. When they had left below deck, they other boys were left there to think about what was happening.

"Nice going Zoro, you separated a young boy and his sister just like the idiot you are." Sanji was finishing up one of his cigarettes and threw it on the deck and stepped on it. Zoro looked at him angry. He knew he made a mistake in saying that Hibo had left when he really knew he hadn't but he wasn't about to admit that now.

"I told you I saw him leave! I guess I saw someone else or something."

"How many bleach blonde six year olds do you see jumping off our ship, huh swordsman?" Sanji wasn't finished with Zoro yet. He was really fumed that Hibo had been torn away from home and his only family just because moss head sleeps too much. He wanted to rub it in a little more but he was interrupted by Nami.

"Hey! You guys! Get down here! The storm is coming really soon!" Nothing else was said after that, they only stared at each other with daggers as Luffy skipped in front of them down below deck.

-

"That's it…" Monoka was getting closer now and she could tell for sure that this was the ship that Hibo should be on. The waves had started to get worse as she was motoring and she noticed that clouds were starting to form again. She ignored all of this as she stopped the motor once she had gotten next to the large hull. Trying to hold her balance, she gripped as well as she could onto its side and tried to look for the easiest way to get up. She could see very small crooks going up the side and decided that was the best she would probably find on a nice ship like this so she went ahead and tried for it.

Gripping as tight as she could, she let her right foot find a small divot to sneak into and stood off of the motor boat. She held her cold body as close as she possibly could so her control was better and slowly worked her way up the side of the ship, slipping occasionally, but still keeping some sort of a grip as to not let herself drop into the sea. The boat she had traveled on was now floating behind, the sailing ship leaving it faster than she wished and left nothing below to catch her except the icy blue water.

"_Shit…"_

Finally, she had strained her muscles enough to barely reach the top and when the top came near she grabbed for the railing with a hawk like clutch and quickly pulled herself up and onto the deck. Breathing heavily from the hard workout she just had, she glanced around and saw that no one was on deck. Standing up quickly, her heart was racing and she lightly ran up the steps to the upper deck to see if Hibo was there. He was not. She paused in her heavy breathing to try and take a listen and try to hear anything below deck. She laid flat down on her stomach and pressed her ear to the floor. Listening closely, she could hear muffled voices below. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying so she still didn't know if Hibo was with them. There was only one way to find out.

Monoka got back to her feet swiftly. She tiptoed back down the stairs, being sure not to catch anyone's attention before she wanted to. As she descended the last step, she could feel the first few drops of rain start to fall from the sky and it felt like the storm would come quickly. A crack from the sky lit up her pathway and she quickly skidded across the window that showed from down below. She had caught a glimpse of a small figure with blonde hair. A wave of relief washed over her body as she finally knew that she was on the correct ship. Breathing in deeply to regain control over her bubbling emotions, she opened the door quietly and swiftly went down the steps into the hallway. Then, gripping the door to the room she saw the others in, she opened it up.

--

Shade- My chapters are so long. Weird. Please review!


	5. New Town

Shade- Next chapter. Maybe it will be long as well… by the way, I'm "killing off" Vivi and Koru because I don't want them anymore. I won't literally have them killed in my story but I just won't write them in. I'm not really an author who likes to pay attention to consistency when it comes to these things. And I'm not adding in Robin since I haven't seen enough of the show to know too much about her.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or anybody within its world.

--

Chapter 5: New Town

The door swung open and, with uncanny timing, a burst of lightning erupted from the sky behind Monoka and illuminated the whole room, with her long shadow running over some of the crew's faces. A scream ran through the air pairing itself with the bright light in timing, and when the lightning disappeared, it left a fuming Monoka before the eyes of the Straw Hats. She scanned the room quickly and saw Hibo standing next to Nami with the biggest smile she had ever seen him make.

"Monoka!" He ran over to Monoka who had dropped to her knees so Hibo could reach her and wrapped his arms around her neck.

The others in the room were completely floored at seeing Monoka on the ship. How in the hell did she get here? However, there was another question resting in someone's mind.

"Who screamed?" Nami looked around the room and saw Usopp sitting in the corner wide eyed and patting his chest. "Oh, of course." Nami then turned her attention back to the reunited siblings. "How in the world did you get here?" She took a step forward when asking the question to try and make herself seem more intimidating.

"Doesn't matter, do you have a lifeboat so we can leave?" Monoka's voice was stern. Even though these people didn't seem like the typical pirates she had run into before in her life she was still always on guard. She had dropped Hibo and nudged him behind her legs. She stared forward, straight into Nami's eyes trying to intimidate back. The room was quiet for a couple of seconds and all the guys looked between the two girls seeing the tension. Knowing Nami, they were afraid that finding a match in attitude like Monoka would set her (and then, consequently, Monoka) off. However, she somehow kept her fiery composure and spoke instead of yelled.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you go through this storm in a dinky lifeboat." Nami paused and looked down at Hibo. "It would endanger him, and I know you of all people wouldn't like that." Nami crossed her arms over her chest defensively and waited for what Monoka was going to say. She watched Monoka look out the window noticing the rain coming down hard. She smiled when she saw that she had in a strange way beaten Monoka, but that quickly turned to a frown when she realized something else.

"I guess we have to stay then huh?" Hibo had followed Monoka's gaze and understood perfectly. They couldn't go out in a bad storm when they were so far away from home. He had seen the map that Nami had and saw how far they had sailed before Monoka had come in. Monoka looked down at him and they locked eyes. Hibo had a slight look that said _please?_ to Monoka and she sighed.

"I guess we have to." Monoka bent down and picked up a happy Hibo. "You don't by chance have a room do you?" Monoka's tone was condescending as she looked over the room of pirates who were looking at her still surprised of her presence on their ship.

"Hey, we have to figure out what we're doing first." Nami took hold of the conversation again and was still trying to see what they could do. As she grabbed everyone's attention, though, a large wave crashed against the hull and made the whole room shake. The crew grabbed on to whatever was closest so they wouldn't fall over but Monoka was the only one who stood in her spot unmoved by the rocking of the ship. "Usopp, get out there to the crow's nest and look to make sure we're going where we're supposed to, the rest of you make sure nothing's falling over board and tie anything that you need to down."

"I'm checking on my medicines." Chopper rushed out of the room even before the others because, after that wave, he was afraid some of his precious equipment might be broken. All the other men followed Nami's orders and left, passing Monoka on the way. She looked into each of their eyes, Usopp, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro's; with an attitude that said she didn't trust them, at all. Once they passed, she turned back to an agitated looking Nami and waited to be led to some kind of room. Nami walked toward her and stood in front of her face trying to look as tall as she could even though she was quite shorter than Monoka.

"We have a guest room at the end of the hall, but before you go there, we have to square away exactly what we're going to do with you. We're not turning around, we're almost to the next port and it would be a lot safer to dock there first. We could, I suppose, sail you two back but—"

"No need, we're not going back." When Monoka spoke, Hibo looked at her oddly, as did Nami. "I guess, in some way, this was a sign for it. We've been meaning to move for a while. It looks like this is the perfect opportunity for us. Now, if you could lead us to that room?" Monoka took command of the conversation as she liked to do and saw it ticked off Nami (since she liked to take control as well). Giving a small smirk, she let Nami pass her and lead her down the hallway.

"Monoka? What were saying about us moving?" Hibo was sitting on a bed along with Monoka. She had brought their chest into the room and put it in the corner nearest the bed. Monoka knew she had to tell Hibo now since he was clearly confused. She patted the part of the bed between her legs and Hibo crawled over on all fours and plopped himself down in front of her. Monoka sighed before starting.

"You know I care for you more than anything Hibo, even if I do lose track of time sometimes," Monoka had started speaking, but when she said the last part Hibo stared back up at her with a look that said _sometimes?_ "Okay, a lot, but that's not the point. Over the years our location has become better known to the people who are after you. I was meaning to tell you we should move away for safety today. However, I found you gone." Now, Monoka was the one who gave a look and Hibo understood that she had been awfully scared seeing him gone.

"I got bored and went to visit Luffy. I brought the chest to show them some of the things we use—" Monoka's eyes got a little wider, thinking of the things that the others could have seen. "After a while, it was time for my nap I guess and I accidentally fell asleep in the pantry. Then they left I guess."

"They left and didn't even know that you were still on the ship?"

"They kept talking about Zoro saying he saw me leave or something." Hibo shrugged and fell back into Monoka's chest and yawned. They had been on the ship for a couple hours and night was starting to come. She rubbed his arm and he closed his eyes.

"We won't change into pajamas tonight I guess. Too much has happened, too much has changed." Monoka laid down her head on the pillow and kept Hibo in her grip. Pulling the covers over them both, the warm feeling of cloth over her body was comforting. Even the fact that they were on a real bed was comfort enough. It had been a couple years since she had felt this serene and calm while trying to drift into sleep. And for once, she fell asleep in a soothing quickness that had never captured her when she slept on the cold concrete of the warehouse.

At some point in the night, the Going Merry had sailed into port while the storm was still raging and managed to get tied up and secure. The waves that rocked the boat somewhat violently had actually acted as a sort of rocking crib for Monoka and Hibo and they were in a comfortable sleep like no other. The crew, however, were on a different note. They all, except Chopper who was fast asleep before they even got into port (his medicines were fine), were sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure things out.

"Monoka said they could be let off here. Said they had decided to move." Nami was explaining her conversation to the others so they could be caught up.

"So we're good then? Everything's settled and we don't have to sail back?"

"Yep, they'll find a place to live I guess and we can sail off as if none of it happened."

"Aw, I was having fun with Hibo. And the things Monoka does are cool! I'm gonna miss them…" Luffy sat at the table thinking. He was actually rubbing his fingers on his chin as if in deep thought. The others knew the look and were quick to react.

"Luffy, no. They cannot join our crew. Hibo is too small and Monoka is too much of a bi—"

"Hibo is not too small! He's the same age I was when I wanted to be a pirate! And Monoka is probably a good fighter; remember the sword Hibo said was hers?" Luffy was trying his hardest to convince the rest of his crew but it didn't seem to be going too well.

"Hey, we already have a swordsman, even if he is a crappy one. Actually, in that case, I wouldn't mind having her instead of Marimo." Sanji was standing against the wall next to the stove and smoking a cigarette. He was cold after being out on top of the boat and wanted something to warm him up.

"Maybe she can cook, then we can replace you." Zoro stood up and looked straight at Sanji with anger. Sanji met his gaze and was about to respond but Nami tried to get the conversation back on track.

"We're not taking them on. We let them off tomorrow. That's final. Now, everyone go to bed." Nami left without waiting for a response and left. The others just looked at Luffy and shook their heads. Monoka and Hibo joining them didn't seem like the best idea, especially since Monoka didn't seem to like them much. Sanji, Zoro and Usopp left Luffy by himself in the kitchen and went to the men's quarters.

"Aw," Luffy sighed after his failed attempt to get new members for their crew. Usually, his word was final, but it seemed now that it wouldn't be happening.

The dark night sky overcast with clouds didn't let any light through the windows of the Going Merry. The pitch blackness allowed everyone to drift into slumber quickly. However, the fighting conscience of one awoke her in the middle of the night. Monoka's eyes opened slowly and she saw almost nothing through the dark. She could feel her arms wrapped around Hibo and she glanced down at him and could just make out his little hand at his face, he was sucking on his thumb. She smiled and closed her eyes again, trying to get back to sleep. However, her restless mind just wouldn't allow her. All she could think about was their new home and if it would be safe.

She opened her eyes again. This time, the sleep was completely out of her and she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, no matter how much she wanted to. Slowly, she lifted herself out of bed and made sure not to move Hibo too much. He was a pretty heavy sleeper (seeing as how he could sleep on Monoka's back while she ran from the Navy and pirates). Finally, she made it onto the hard wood floor and lifted the cover back over Hibo's body.

What she was thinking of doing was crazy to her. In any other situation with any other pirates she would never dream of doing this. But there was something that she was unwilling to admit about these particular pirates that made her feel somehow _safe_ with them. The thought scared her immensely, but even though Hibo was only six he was a pretty okay judge of character, and these guys were definitely not normal pirates. They didn't even steal any of the money that Monoka had stored in her chest which she was completely expecting, especially from the red head. Therefore, even though she felt strange doing it, she felt like she could safely keep Hibo here alone. Besides, Hibo has shown before that he can hold his own, these guys were just teenagers anyways, she could tell.

Finally, she grabbed the key to the room and locked it when she left. Turning around, her foot caught on something and she pitched forward letting out a yelp. Quickly, she grabbed her mouth to hush herself. She stopped to try and listen and make sure she didn't wake anybody. She heard nothing. Monoka then tried to figure out what it was that she had tripped over. Reaching down, she could feel what it was, she could feel smooth wood and then she knew what it was. A Bo staff? Grunting angrily toward whoever left that there, she set it off to the side and kept walking down the hall till she made it out onto the deck.

The storm had passed and only a chilly wind was left of it. She looked out toward the town and saw only a few lights still on along with the street lights. She moved to the edge of the ship getting ready to jump and paused a second to think of Hibo. Taking a deep breath, she jumped over.

In town, the only places that were still open were bars and taverns. Since she wasn't in a mood to drink, she found a convenience store instead for some water. She walked around the town, sort of grading it on how well it suited her and her expectations. It was okay, but paled in comparison to her actual home. But she figured that she would think that about every place. Continuing on, she saw a store filled with rare and rather random knick knacks that she always seemed to be attracted to and stopped in the middle of the street to look at it. While she stopped, however, attention started to be attracted towards her from the tavern across the street.

Monoka, slightly more keen on hearing than others, could hear the slurred obscenities that some of the bar goers were spitting about her to their friends. Trying to hold her cool and not wanting to start a scene, she decided to head back to the ship and check on Hibo. However, once she tried, her plans slowly unraveled.

"Hey girlie, I've never seen you around, ya new to tha town? I could show you around." The bumbling and idiotic talk of a drunken man made Monoka stop. Usually, her attitude would overtake her and she would retaliate, but this was a new beginning; a second chance. It would be better if she didn't make any of the locals mad. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and continued toward the port. However, yet again, that was disrupted.

"Hey, hey, hey there. I was talkin' to ya, didn't ya hear?" Now, the drunken man had somehow, against the laws of heavy drinking, stood up and blocked Monoka's way. He was kneeling over, unable to really hold the weight of his own head and looking at her with sleepy eyes. Since he was breathing heavily, Monoka could smell the grog on his breath and she instantly scrunched up her face and shrunk away. Again, trying to avoid the situation, she motioned around the man but he stopped her with his free arm (the other was occupied by a half empty bottle of liquor). Finally, Monoka tried, with the last of her effort, to control her newly uprooted anger and ignored the man. Yet, that still wouldn't work.

"Now hear this girlie," the man spoke with a drunken slur, and grabbed her upper arm. He was level with her face, only a mere five inches from it ,which made the horrid smell of his breath even worse, and looked into her eyes which were now just slits. "This can go easy and you just do what I say. Or, it can be hard and I hurt you…" The man then squeezed her arm tightly with his huge hands. This was the last straw. You can speak down to her, you can make fun of her to your buds, you might even get away with degrading her if she's in the right mood, but there was no way you could hurt her without getting horns in return.

Nostrils flared, Monoka grabbed the man's hand and ripped it off her. The man only chuckled in response at her feistiness, but went flat faced soon after. The look in her eyes, it wasn't like the other women's he'd hit on. She didn't show the common fear, not even anger, but a fiery hatred.

"If you value the skin on your face you will sit back down and continue on with your sad, unfulfilling life." While Monoka spoke, she got closer to the man's face just so he could see deeper into her gray eyes. She also reached into her pocket while she spoke and wrapped her fingers around something. She was waiting for the man's decision. He thought for a few seconds, and just gave a sly smile.

"I think I'd prefer to plow you—" Just as fast as the man spoke, the bottle of liquor was ripped out of his hands. Monoka took a large swig of the tart alcohol. The man just looked on in surprise, not expecting this kind of reaction. Every thing was also happening too fast to react as well. She then took her other hand from out of her pocket. She was holding her purple lighter. Then she flicked it on.

Before anything could be said, Monoka spat out the liquor towards the open flame. A huge ball of fire formed in front of her face and straight into the face of the man. When the ball hit him, he erupted in a yell and fell to the ground. The other men witnessing this were too stunned to react at once. The man's hair and face were on fire. Too bad for him he had a beard.

Monoka just looked down at him flat faced. She took one more gulp of the drink and swallowed it then dropped the bottle on the man, igniting the rest of his upper half in flame. "I gave you a way out of that you know." Monoka turned to head back when she remembered there were other men.

"Hey bitch! Get back here!" Several men were preoccupied with trying to put their friend out with their coats, but others had stood up to chase after Monoka. Noticing this, Monoka sprinted off down a side alley. The drunken men chased after her but they were easily lost with a few twists and turns. Once she had worked her way deep within the town she finally stopped. Panting slightly, she swore at herself for letting her anger get her. There was no way she and Hibo would move here.

About an hour later, Monoka got back to the port. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going while she ran nor did she want to end up back where she started, so she followed her nose back to the sea. Getting back on board, she stopped for a bit to feel the sea breeze. This always calmed her and for some reason made her feel good. After calming herself, she moved toward the door leading to the lower deck when something in the window glinted in the newly rising sun and caught her eye. It came from the Navigator's room. Thinking, Monoka looked back at the town and noticed there was no sign saying its name.

'_It'd be good if I knew this place as to know never to come back.'_ Monoka quietly opened the door to the lower deck hallway and then the door to the Navigator's room. Once inside, Monoka could see that the thing that caught her eye was the compass. Walking over to the map that laid out on the table she quickly found the island that was her home, Furberia Island. Moving her finger east, the first island it moved over was Kilmer Island.

'_Okay.'_ Monoka was happy with herself, though kept moving her finger east following a red line drawn across it. Wondering where it was leading to, she stopped and stared bug eyed at a small island that was barely big enough to see somewhere between where they were and their destination. She started to breath heavier when she looked around for a magnifying glass. When she found one, she moved it over the map and looked at the island. Her heart was beating erratically as she remembered what she had been told several years ago.

"_Just like a flame…"_ Monoka whispered as she looked over the vaguely detailed shape of the island. Her heart continued to pound and she could hear it in her ears. Then, she noticed that the red line that marked where the ship was to travel passed extremely close but did not stop at the island. Monoka continued to examine the map and saw tick marks below the red line in faint pencil scratches. They said the dates expected to get to each port. Looking in between the two ports that were nearest the island it showed to be a few months away. Gulping, Monoka started to think a mile a minute inside of her head. After several minutes passed, she gave a weak smile and a small chuckle.

"_It could all be over…"_ Monoka's small smile became a grin after she was thinking of what could be. Trembling with excitement, she put the magnifying glass down. Although, the others still expected them to leave this morning. She worried slightly. She and Hibo were definitely not staying here, not after that and not after she'd found this. Leaving the room, she walked slowly back down the dark hallway, looking at each door and remembering where they led with a smile still.

'_The kitchen, the bathroom, men's quarters, "Nami's room"… guest room.'_ Monoka stopped at the end of the hallway. Fishing into her pockets, her fingers brushed against her lighter and then she grabbed the key. Still trembling, she finally stuck it in and twisted it, then she opened the door and walked in. Hibo lay in the same position as when she left and she exhaled a breath she didn't know she took. Instead of rejoining him, she went to the desk that was positioned in front of the window and waited for the sun to rise and her little brother to wake up.

--

Shade- WHOO, another long one. They'll all probably be long. About the islands I mentioned, Kilmer is the last name of an actor I've just been thinking a lot about for some odd reason and Furberia is Italian for artfulness, craftiness and trick. If the ending seems a little jumpy and without flow, that's because I forgot to write in the most important part and then added it in later.

Please review!


	6. Setting Sail

Shade- Chapter 6 is here!

People- Dude, what happened, we were asleep

Shade- O.O

People- What?

Shade- I was wondering where you went… Warning before you read, there is slight swearing cuz there's a fight.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

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Chapter 6: Setting Sail

Monoka had nodded off in her chair for several minutes but she was quickly awakened again by yells outside of the ship.

"I remember! I saw her get into one of these ships last night!"

"Which one?"

"I don't know, I was drunk!"

"We'll search them all then!"

Then, a large crashing and the sound of wood splitting could be heard. By now, Monoka was wide eyed, recognizing the voice. She stood up and walked out of the room just as others on the ship were too. Sanji and Zoro walked in front of her, she looked inside the room and saw the others sleeping. She raised an eyebrow at how they could sleep through this noise. At this point, screams of the townspeople was filling the area and she heard Hibo even wake up. She stood slightly dumbfounded. No one she had ever seen could out sleep Hibo. What strange people. Just then, Nami walked out of her room with a face that showed she wasn't in a good mood.

"What the hell's going on?!" She turned down the hall toward the stairs and could hear Sanji yell down to her "There are people tearing up the port!" Her angry face dropped to surprise and she sprinted out into the morning sun right after yelling for the others to 'get their asses up'. They did.

"What's going on?" Luffy stood in the doorway sleepy eyed with Usopp behind him looking just as tired. They looked at Monoka who just shrugged and said "Um…" Nami yelled once more for them to come up and there was panic in her voice. "They're destroying ships," was the last part she said and that was enough to get them running up.

"What's going on Monoka?" Hibo had walked out of the room rubbing his eyes and yawning. Monoka bit her lip and just told Hibo to go back inside the room and close the door. Once he was inside, Monoka made her way up the stairs to the deck, but she stayed low as to not be seen.

"Get the ropes! Usopp! Open the sail! Sanji, steer us out!" Nami was running around the ship trying to get everything they needed squared away. There was a large group of men jumping onto the ships in the port and were pillaging the ships and setting them on fire.

"You think you can set Forester Wales on fire?! You got another thing coming bitch!" Screams and yells could be heard from two ships down and the crazed men were jumping off and going to the next ship looking for Monoka.

Monoka was wide eyed as she saw the man that hit on her leading the other men. His face was puffy and red and just looked like the wax of a burning candle. If he had a right mind he would have that thing wrapped up and healing, but his ego was more important apparently. He stayed on the ground as his men jumped up and seized the ship next to them rather quickly.

"Come on!" Nami was down right scared now. The other ships were burning and she could see the dead bodies of people who were on them. Zoro was almost finished with pulling the anchor up and there was one last rope that had to be untied. He got to it and started to pull but something restrained him from getting it into the ship.

"Hiding something?"

Zoro stared down and saw the twisted smile of a man whose face seemed to be melting right in front of his head. He was gripping tightly onto the rope, not allowing the ship to sail out of port. Zoro looked behind the man and saw others grinning toothily with sticks that were lit on fire. Without hesitation, Zoro let go of the rope with one of his hands and slid a sword out of its sheath from his belt.

"I'd let go if I were you." Zoro stared down at him with a look of disgust at what this guy and his men just did to the other innocent ships. However, the man known as Forester Wales just chuckled and pulled down on the rope which caused the whole ship to tip to the side. Zoro almost slipped out but held his grip tightly. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his sword tighter and had a shaking arm.

"Burn it." The two words Forester said, prompting his men, ended up prompting Zoro to act. Before any of the other men could take a step toward the ship, Zoro swung his free arm down. A yell erupted above all the others and the Going Merry kicked back into the swing of the ocean, and started to float away as it was no longer challenging the force of Forester's hold on their last rope.

The rope swung over the side of the ship, cut short so they could get out. It had blood on its tip. The scream that had bellowed out just moments before was Forester's. He had dropped to his knees holding tightly onto his wrist. His red, stump of a wrist.

As the Going Merry sailed away, tension on the boat finally started to rest. Even though the men still on land were yelling at them, shaking their flaming sticks, they felt that they were finally safe. Monoka then stood full figure out on the deck and looked back at the port. She stared at the scene. The fire that lined the docks captivated her, and she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She slowly walked forward and let the side stop her. She was too preoccupied with staring at the fire that she forgot she was now visible to the men on land.

"Hey! It's her! It's that bitch!" At the words, the whole crew of the Going Merry turned and stared at Monoka. Her eyes were just as wide as theirs as she watched some of the burning stick wielding men run closer to the side of the port and throw them as hard as they could.

Several sticks came flying through the air straight for the Going Merry. As everyone else watched in horror of what could happen if the flames connected, Monoka acted on impulse and jumped up onto the railing. She caught several of the sticks before they could hit the ship and jumped up to get one that was flying over her head. She landed back down on the railing with ease and stared back at the port full of angry men. As the flames started to creep closer to her hands, she tossed the sticks into the sea, putting out their flames.

Still staring back at the flames that reached for the sky, Monoka paid no attention to the crew of the Going Merry who were all staring at her. She still stood on the railing of the ship even as the boat swayed in the waves without so much as losing her balance. The livid men back on shore were still yelling profanities at her as they sailed away but she only focused on the man named Forester. She looked down and saw his blood on the rope and instantly knew that Zoro had cut his hand off. She opened her mouth, about to say something, but she was quickly cut off.

"What the hell did you do?!" Nami ran at her screaming and wrapped her hands around Monoka's ankles and pulled. Monoka's face distorted into fear as she fell under the pull of Nami's grip and her stomach connected with the railing where her feet had just been. With the wind knocked out of her, she slumped to the floor of the ship and grabbed her stomach in pain. Her eyes were wide, however, in pure anger at what Nami had done.

"Don't _ever_ touch me like that!" Monoka stood up and tried to run at Nami but was quickly restrained by Zoro who was still standing at the side of the ship from before. He wrapped his arms around hers so she couldn't lash out and punch anybody. She jumped up still livid and tried to get out of his grip but it was too strong. Nami then tried to do the same thing and run at Monoka but she was pulled back by Sanji in the blink of an eye.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you make trouble wherever you go?!" Nami was twisting in Sanji's grip trying to get out as well. She was gritting her teeth in anger as she looked at Monoka and was imagining the ways she could beat the living day light out of her.

"Don't blame me for the shit those bastards did!" Monoka started to push her feet off of the ground, trying to make Zoro's grip on her loosen. Her doing this caused him to have to take steps back to keep his balance while Monoka was bumping up into his face. He hit the side of the ship on her third try.

"Stop!" He yelled. His voice boomed out loudly and had some effect as Monoka stopped jumping, but she continued to struggle in his grip, twisting. However, her doing this just made him hold on tighter and put pressure on her torso. This made Monoka collapse a little bit since her breathing was off now.

"What did you do to them anyways?!" Sanji was still holding tight onto Nami who now looked like a rabid dog with red in her eyes. She was stronger than he expected and had to hold on tighter and tighter.

"I burned the fucker's face off, that's what I did!" When Monoka said this, Zoro's face became surprised and his grip loosened just enough for Monoka to break out. Once this happened, everyone expected her to pounce on Nami but she didn't. Monoka stood there breathing heavily and just looked at Nami with hate filled eyes. She started to walk closer to Nami but Sanji dragged her away and Zoro went back to grab her but Monoka got out of the way. Nami jutted her feet forward and tried to kick her but Monoka just swatted her legs away like they were flies and her feet hit the floor with a loud thunk. Then, as Monoka got even closer now, Luffy made his presence known and stood between Monoka and Nami with his arms outstretched to his sides to block her path. He stared straight at Monoka with a look that didn't exactly show anger, but some type of sympathetic warning. Monoka paused and stopped walking to look Luffy in the eyes. He looked serious but also sad. Monoka kept looking into his eyes, and her breathing started to settle as her heart rate returned to normal. Then, she looked straight at Nami who had calmed down as well, and said what she wanted to say.

"Never, and I mean _never_, touch me like that." She paused and took several more large breathes before continuing. "If you want to blame me for what happened back there, go on ahead, I couldn't care less about your opinions. But if you feel the need to physically hurt me, don't expect to not get fire in return." Monoka emphasized the word fire, and looked into Nami's eyes for a mere second more before walking off back toward her room. As she did, she passed a sleepy eyed Chopper at the top of the stairs.

Chopper yawned and asked while rubbing his eyes, "What's going on?"

--

Shade- I want this one to be short so it is short. I never meant for Monoka and Nami to hate each other, it just sort of came out that way while I was writing ' I might fix it but I don't feel like I'll try and make them the best of buds in coming chapters. Anyways, please review and I'll update!


	7. Settling Down

Shade- Time for chapter number 7

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Chapter 7: Settling Down

Monoka stamped her way down the hall into the guest room where Hibo had been told to stay in until otherwise noted. She sat down in the chair that she had been sitting in when all of this started and huffed loudly in anger and really caught Hibo's attention from his seat on the bed. He stared back in confusion and could easily tell she was not in a mood to talk. So, he just let her sit and let off steam and when she was ready she would make it known. Turning back to his original seating, he grabbed his juggling rings and continued to throw them into the air and practice.

"You guys?" Chopper stood there still confused. Monoka had walked passed him angry and now no one was talking, just looking at each other and trying to catch their breathes.

"She is getting off at the next island. I don't care what island it is, but the next lump of land we see is her new home!" Nami was still fuming after yelling at Monoka and almost getting into a full fledged fight with her. If it weren't for Sanji she would have mangled—

"What about Hibo?" Luffy stood in front of the doorway down to the rest of the ship still worried about what had happened. He was facing the back of the ship and could see the island that they were just at getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Well, I guess Hibo has to deal with his sister's idiocy with ruining every place she goes. It's not like we can split them up. Jeez, that bitch scratched my legs! If she's gonna have anymore outbursts like that I should just throw her overboard!"

"You do know that you were the one that started that."

"You want to start something Zoro?" Nami crept up into his face and stared him down. He didn't flinch and just looked down at her.

"Nope. Just stating the obvious. If you didn't do what you did we wouldn't be here." With that, he walked off up the stairs to the upper deck to take a nap and try to get away from all of the drama. Nami huffed, and stormed off to her room as did the others in repetition.

After several hours (and no breakfast) the crew of the Going Merry and their guests weren't getting along any more than they had just that morning. Monoka had wordlessly refused to come out of the room and Nami would yell at anyone who she heard stop at her door.

To Nami's dismay, as well, the nearest island was three days away. Lucky for them, however, they had just enough supplies to last them. Their stop at Kilmer Island was just because of the storm. She had yet to inform Monoka and Hibo that they would be let off there.

It was lunch time and the smell of smoked salmon could be smelt throughout the whole ship from the galley down wind to the stern. Sanji knew it was just dew time till Nami and Monoka would leave their rooms for lunch so he was hoping that they could be civil and not bite each others heads off. However, Monoka did seem to be more collected at the end of the fight. It seemed to him that she didn't want to be fighting with Nami. Thinking still as he stirred the sauce continuously he wondered what had happened to Monoka that night before and what _'burned his fucking face off'_ exactly meant. While still in thought, Luffy entered the kitchen just as happy as he ever was and prompted Sanji to wonder if he at all remembered what had happened earlier.

"Hi Sanji! What's for lunch?" Luffy sat down and stared at the fish that was on the stove and grabbed his fork waiting to be served.

"Smoked salmon Luffy," he said in response.

"YUM." He smiled and licked his lips before jamming his fork into one fish and lifting it in the air to put in his ever-stretching mouth. While he downed the first one, Usopp and Zoro walked into the room in line and sat down for lunch. They ate in silence under the noises of a hungry Luffy and stopped instantly when Nami came through the door. She met no one's eyes, sat down and just waited for her food to be served.

"Here you are Nami-swan." Sanji's tone was more defensive as if he were walking on egg shells. She nodded a thank you and ate silently under the watchful eyes of the rest of the crew, all except Luffy.

Several minutes past with no one talking and Nami didn't even have her eyes open anymore. She was just sitting and eating waiting till she was finished with her lunch so she could get back to her room. However, she couldn't eat fast enough. The creak of the door was noticed by everyone since nothing was being said, and every eye turned to look at Monoka. Her face showed no emotion. Hibo stood in front of her; she had a hand draped over his shoulder, holding him back from running to get a seat. As the others continued to stare at her, she spoke.

"Hibo is hungry." With that, she removed her hand which told Hibo that he could move forward to eat. She shifted to the left and leaned against the wall. Sanji turned from where he had grabbed some food for Hibo and looked at Monoka.

"Are you going to eat?" He set the plate down with out even looking and Hibo dove into it happily. She didn't shift her gaze from the little notch on the wall she had seen when first walking in and answered a simple "No."

Sanji shrugged and sat down. Monoka could easily tell that they were looking at her. Not the whole time but small intervals, probably wondering why she was just standing there.

"Yum! I want some more!" Hibo put is spotless plate up in the air wanting more of the salmon. Sanji smirked a little and started to get up, but he was stopped.

"No Hibo, you've had enough. Don't eat any more than your share, it's not our food." Monoka finally stood up straight after leaning against the wall the whole time and she stepped toward Hibo to retrieve him and take him back to the room.

"It's okay, he can have some more, I have enough. Besides, Luffy eats enough shares for all of us." Sanji stuck a thumb toward Luffy who looked like a big rubber ball now after many fish.

"No, come on Hibo." Monoka stuck her hand out waiting for Hibo to take it. He stared for a few seconds thinking maybe she would change her mind but gave up and took it. They walked out in silence.

"That was rude."

The crew took their gaze from the empty doorway to Nami who had spoken for the first time finally. She still had not looked up from her plate.

"What?"

"Not letting Hibo eat more." There was a monotonous tone in her voice as she stuck another bite of fish into her mouth, still not looking up. Everyone one just looked at each other with confused looks and shrugged, letting the issue go.

Several hours had past and Monoka and Hibo had yet to leave the room. Nami had stayed out, making sure they were headed the correct way and watching for any bad weather. Everyone was in their usual settings; Sanji was still in the kitchen, Usopp in the Crow's Nest, Zoro sleeping, Chopper in his room, and Luffy on the figurehead of the ship. Everything seemed normal, just like any other day. But then they heard a door open.

Out into the light came Monoka and Hibo. He looked excited and she looked on guard. He was smiling as he looked out at the endless sea, no land in sight. Monoka figured that it had still yet to sink into Hibo that they would never be going back to live at their home on Furberia Island again. However, she knew he would soon realize it all and get used to the idea. He may only be six but he was better grounded than most people she had met.

Once everyone had stopped staring at them and turned back to their business, she let Hibo out of her grip and he took a few steps forward, still admiring the ship.

"Stay near the center of the deck and do not try and look over the railing. And be careful with these things," Monoka said while pointing to the rings in his hands, "if they get out of control let them go, don't go chasing for them all over the ship." Monoka stood up normal again and crossed her arms. As long as they were on this ship she would have her guard on like the overprotective sister she was.

"Oh come on Monoka! I can control these things like they were part of my body." Hibo then started to juggle the three rings in his hands with total ease. She looked down at him with a flat face not liking his attitude. He was still juggling all smiles when the others started to look at him and see what he was doing.

Next, he threw one of the rings higher up then he was doing before and jumped forward and landed in a one handed hand stand. He continued to juggle two of the rings with one hand as the other he had thrown higher landed around his leg. He was still all smiles but Monoka didn't seem to be all amused. That didn't go for everyone else, however.

"Wow! That's really cool Hibo!" Luffy had turned around and seen his entire little juggling act. He started to clap as did Nami. She actually had some sort of a smile on her face as she watched. Clapping could be heard above and everyone looked at Usopp.

"That is cool Hibo! Your juggling reminds me of a time when I was out at sea! I had been captured and my only way of surviving was to juggle fifteen flaming knives with one hand!" Usopp started to go off into one of his trademark lies and everyone started to zone him out on instinct.

"Thank you! Monoka taught me how to juggle! Show 'em Mo!" Hibo had been in a hand stand the whole time and was trying to get out of it but his one hand landed on a ring he had set down and he started to fall. Without even a grunt, Hibo was several more feet in the air dangling by the grip of his sister's hand around his ankle. He looked at her upside down and nervously laughed and rubbed his head. She just shook her head and turned him around to set him back down on his feet.

"No, I don't feel like it."

"Aw, come on! You're a ton better than me! Here, I'll go get the knives!"

"You do NOT touch the knives." Monoka grabbed the back of Hibo's shirt as he had started to run off for the room. He huffed, and gave up. "Now, stay under control please and don't go off all hyper. I don't want you falling over." Monoka was going to say more but she was cut off by a particularly loud snore. She stopped and looked toward the sound as did Hibo. Raising an eyebrow, she saw the swordsman laying against the side of the ship sleeping.

"How can he sleep sitting up like that?" Monoka had never been able to do that herself. The one time she tried she got a neck ache from her head nodding over.

"Oh, Zoro can do anything! He's our first mate! He's supposed to be good at everything!" Luffy laughed a bit and turned back to look out at the sea.

Monoka kept her eyes on the swordsman as he slept. She saw three swords at his side just like she had seen the first day they crossed paths. She'd never seen someone use three swords before and she wasn't quite sure how it would work. She recalled seeing one of them in his mouth the first day they encountered the pirates.

"He can also do what you did Hibo, those hand stand thingies."

"Really?"

"Yep, he does 'em like this." Luffy then jumped from the figurehead onto the deck with his hands pressed firmly on the wood. Quickly, for he was losing his balance, he started to do pushups. However, he only got three out before he fell over onto his back laughing. Hibo joined him in laughter.

"Hey! That's just like—"

"Hibo."

He stopped his voice quickly after noticing what he was saying. He looked up at Monoka and mouthed the word 'sorry' and shrugged.

"Just like what?" Luffy looked at the two in their little staring contest of sorts and wondered what was going on.

"Just like…" Hibo was racking his brain to say something and blurted out, "Monoka. She used to do them."

"Not anymore though, come on Hibo, let's go back inside." Monoka started to turn around to head back inside but was stopped.

"Aw, Monoka, I want to stay in the sun. It's warm." Hibo gave a pouty face which he knew would catch Monoka every time. She stared down at him and tapped her foot. After several seconds of that, she sighed and slumped her shoulders down.

"Fine. But if you leave my sight, we're going back inside." Monoka sighed one more time as Hibo jumped up in happiness. She walked to the bow of the ship and sat facing the rest of the ship, watching Hibo's moves.

For a while now, Hibo had been non stop energy and was doing cartwheels and flips out on the front of the ship. Luffy still sat above Monoka and would clap every time Hibo did something interesting. Several times, Hibo had tried to coax Monoka into joining him but she never would. She just sat where she was and watched him. Luffy, had also tried to get Monoka to get up and do stuff but that still was not enough.

"You're too serious Monoka, you gotta have fun!" Luffy was cart wheeling around the deck along with Hibo laughing every time he would fall on his back. Monoka diverted her eyes for only several seconds to look up into the sky and let the rays of the sun hit her face. Quickly after that, however, a voice filled her head.

"Why are you such a hard head?" It was Nami.

"Excuse me?" Monoka tilted her head to look at Nami who was standing over her looking at Luffy and Hibo.

"You're no fun. You have Hibo in a little box and you won't let him live."

"You have it backwards, I act the way I do around him because it'll keep him alive."

"You can't anticipate your little brother's death every day, that's a little morbid."

"I do what I have to do to keep him safe."

The conversation that they were having had no emotion tied to their words, them both still having a little ill will toward each other after their fight. There was a short pause between the two and Hibo and Luffy could be heard comparing their eating abilities. Then, the talking continued.

"We're letting you off at the next island. It's three days away. I certainly hope you don't screw it all up somehow." Nami took that moment to leave since it would have her on the upper. However, that was spoiled when Monoka talked.

"Actually, there was an island I would like to be let off at. There is business there that I would like to attend to." This made Nami stop. She turned around and looked down at Monoka who wasn't looking at her.

"What's this island called? Where is it?"

"Liekki Island. You're map showed it a couple months out."

"Months? No, no, no. You are not gonna be on our ship for another _week_ let alone a couple months. We're not gonna go out of our way just so you can go where you want."

"It's not out of your way. In fact, you pass within a few simple miles of the island. Or, at least that's what your map showed."

"Too bad, it's not happening." With that, Nami turned and walked inside the ship, checking for this 'Liekki Island' that Monoka wanted to go to. Monoka, however, just sat there, smiling to herself.

A while later, it was now dinner and everyone was crowded around the table getting ready to be served. Even Monoka was standing in her usual spot right behind Hibo.

"Here, Monoka, why don't you take a seat next to Hibo, huh?" Sanji had a chair in his hand and put it next to Hibo around the table. He looked her straight in the eyes but she was staring down at the chair, contemplating whether or not to sit down.

"Come on Mo!" Hibo was eating a bowl of fruit before dinner was served and tried to get his sister to sit down for once. She sighed, and went to take the seat. Sanji smiled at her but she just ignored him and focused her gaze on a pan that was hanging from the ceiling across from her.

"Okay, so for dinner tonight we have—"

"Why Liekki Island?"

Nami quickly interrupted Sanji and was glaring at Monoka who still didn't move her eyes, she simply just closed them and took a deep breath. Everyone looked at Nami confused at what she was talking about and waited for Monoka to speak.

"Personal reasons," was all Monoka said.

"That doesn't tell me much."

"That's the point."

With Monoka's slightly harsh tone, the others were afraid that they would try to bite each others heads off again. Their bodies tensed, getting ready to pounce on one of them if need be.

"It's so small, it took me a while to even find it. I had to use a magnifying glass just to see it."

"So did I."

"It's probably uninhabited."

"Almost."

With Monoka's answer, Nami raised her eyebrow in confusion. The conversation had been the same distant, emotionless one they had earlier outside. Getting tired of waiting, and fearing his food to get cold, Sanji started to serve it. He gave Nami and Monoka theirs first since they were the females but they both just ignored it. While they spoke the others were still paying attention even as their food was being served. Luffy and Hibo were the only ones who dug into their food like monsters.

"Have you been to this island before?" Nami leaned forward looking intently at Monoka who still had yet to open her eyes again.

"Nope."

No one could tell, but Monoka was bobbing her foot up and down under the table trying to suppress her annoyance with Nami's constant bugging. Her arms were crossed defensively waiting for her to stop asking questions and just eat her dinner.

"We're still not letting you off there." Nami moved back into her chair more comfortably, finally giving up on getting any information on this island. She would have to do her own research. A quiet finally washed over the room as the talking had stopped between the two headstrong girls and everyone just ate in silence. However, that all stopped when the captain realized his surroundings.

"What's going on?" Luffy spoke through the food in his mouth and looked around the table.

"Weren't you listening Luffy?" Sanji couldn't understand how Luffy couldn't at least comprehend what was going unwillingly into his ears while the girls had talked.

"His eating probably droned their voices out." Zoro paused while he ate to speak and then took a swig of his grog and continued with his meal.

"There is an island I want Hibo and I to be let off at, it's called Liekki Island and—"

"It's three months away." Nami finished Monoka's sentence, making sure Luffy didn't make any stupid, irrational decisions. A pause went through the whole crew and everyone stopped eating as they looked at Luffy. He stared at Nami then switched it over to Hibo and finally Monoka. Now, Monoka had met his gaze as well and just looked at him, waiting for something to happen. Finally, he looked forward and opened his mouth.

"Okay."

"WHAT?! Why?!" Nami stood up quickly and slammed her hands down on the table and stared daggers at Luffy. Monoka smirked at how easy this had gone down.

"Well if that's where they want to go—"

"Who gives a shit where they want to go! It's three months Luffy!"

"Watch your mouth in front of my brother!" Monoka stood up and looked across the table at Nami. She had grabbed for Hibo off of his seat after he instinctively put his hands over his ears after hearing a bad word. She then glared at Nami, shaking at her rudeness. Now, Luffy was the one who stood up.

"Hibo and Monoka are guests on this ship. As the captain, I say they STAY and we take them where they want to go!" With that, he plopped back down in his seat and continued to eat.

Nami was stunned. She stood shocked in her place staring at Luffy. _'There's no way I can survive three months with this girl!'_ She looked around the room at everyone else and they just shrugged at her. Her mouth hung open, and she turned around and left.

"Nami!" Sanji stood up and watched Nami walk out. He didn't move to go after her however. Sitting back down, he sighed.

"Your navigator's somewhat of a hot head isn't she?" Monoka had sat back down as well and continued to eat her food. She wasn't fazed with Nami's antics. She'd dealt with similar girls before.

"I guess she's a little turned around at the situation. Don't blame yourself, you haven't done anything wrong." Sanji stood up to clean his dish.

"I don't." Monoka followed suite as she bussed her and Hibo's plate and placed them in the sink. "Thank you for dinner, Hibo and I both enjoyed it. Come on Hibo, let's get you ready for bed."

"Hold on." Monoka stopped quickly. She wasn't expecting to be talked to again, nor was she expecting it from the swordsman.

"Yes?" She turned around and looked at the green haired man. All of a sudden, a question plagued her mind about his hair…

"What exactly happened between you and that guy back at the island? When did you even see him?" With the questions, everyone else in the room looked at Monoka and remembered her yelling the line about burning faces off. She stopped, looking at him slightly surprised at the questions. She looked down at Hibo and told him to go off to his room. Once he did, she turned to the room full of men and crossed her arms. Glancing back at the door Hibo left through as it began to close once more, she began.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to check the town out. Walking around, I was_ fortunate_ enough to be stopped by a drunken man. To tell the truth, I tried to get out of it, I tried to hold my cool, but he went too far." Monoka paused when she realized just what she was revealing, and to whom. People who she barely knew. So, she tried to wrap it up. "So, I pulled out my lighter, grabbed his bottle full of liquor, took a swig, spat it out and burned his face. It was rather invigorating."

With her explanation, she left wide eyes and open mouths all around the table. She chuckled a little before hearing something outside the door.

"Monoka!" Bursting in, Hibo had his fists on his hips and he was glaring up at Monoka, disappointed in her.

"Sorry Hibo, it was spring of the moment and the alcohol was there." Monoka tried to explain herself to her little brother while the rest of the crew didn't know exactly what they were talking about.

"Wait a minute, what's wrong between you two?"

"Alcohol is very dangerous when breathing fire! You NEVER use it!"

There were still slightly confused faces in the room so Monoka decided to explain.

"Alcohol is very explosive. When breathing fire, which is what I did, it's better to use paraffin. It has a higher flash point."

"What's a flash—"

"Don't ask. Come on Hibo, time for bed." Monoka ignored Luffy's question and quickly shuffled Hibo out of the room.

Again, as the galley filled with silence, the others were still speechless at everything that just happened. Nami is mad again, these two are staying with them for three months, and they just heard how Monoka could burn a man's face off and not really care all that much. It's going to be an interesting couple of months.

As dinner had finished and everyone was standing up to leave either for outside or for their beds, the door could be heard opening once again. Everyone turned around and wondered who it was. It was Monoka.

"Luffy?" She was just peeking in, showing that whatever she wanted to say it wasn't going to take long. He looked up and met with her gray eyes. "Thank you for letting Hibo and I stay on your ship. It is greatly appreciated." Monoka lingered a few more seconds, waiting for a response, and got a delayed and broad smile from Luffy. He gave his signature giggle and said "Of course!" He laughed one more time which actually brought out a small smile from Monoka herself. She glanced inside to the rest of the crew; Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper, and nodded before disappearing inside the hallway to go get Hibo ready for bed.

--

Shade- That was chapter 7 for all of you. I hope you enjoyed and please review if you did!


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